


Time Flies

by lookitscloudie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Angst, Bending (Avatar), Crossover, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Kid Hatake Kakashi, More Relationships to be added, More characters to be added, More tags to be added, This is part one of three, maybe four if i end up writing more and it doesnt quite fit, there will be three fics, time dilation, time travel if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26822923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookitscloudie/pseuds/lookitscloudie
Summary: Kakashi Hatake is a shinobi. A young shinobi, but a shinobi nonetheless. But when a strange woman speaks to him when he meditates and he goes to a strange land of powers that he's never heard of, he starts wondering who to believe.ORShinobi don't interact with Benders. Most shinobi don't even know what a bender is. So when a child claims to be the Avatar, Lord Hokage is quite surprised.On hiatus for a bit (but i will come back!!! i'm determined to finish this!!)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Everyone & Everyone, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 23
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me what you think! if you notice any typos or things that don't quite add up, feel free to tell me!

Minato walked into the classroom to pick his three students up. He’d heard that Rin and Obito were at least somewhat normal- or at least as normal as two shinobi kids could be- but the youngest of the bunch, Kakashi, was a train wreck. He’d met the boy once; soon after Sakumo’s death, he’d visited the Hatake compound to talk to him. The boy was quiet, but Minato was sure he was just shy. Kids were often like that, right?

  
  


Minato knew there was something off about the boy- he’d been the teacher of Cell 7 for two weeks. Rin was clever and kind, Obito was hopeless and hotheaded, and Kakashi was… certainly strange. The boy was a genius, that was for sure. And Minato had found out that he wasn’t shy. Not at all. With a sigh, Minato led his three adorable students down to a river.

“Today we start meditating,” he said. “You see those rocks in the middle?”

“We sit on them?” Obito asked, already excited. “Aw, man, I bet I can get there faster than you, Bakashi!”

“Obito, wait a second!” Minato grinned and jumped out to the middle of the fast-moving river, standing on a rock. “When you each get on a rock, focus on staying balanced and breathing.”

“Alright!” Rin quickly jumped onto a rock, followed by Kakashi and Obito. They were each a few feet apart, and once Minato knew that none of them were about to fall, he jumped back to the shore.

***

“Close your eyes.” Minato-sensei’s voice drifted across the river. Kakashi wasn’t particularly comfortable on the rock and was acutely aware of the threats all around him, but he complied. “Now focus on the sounds of nature.” 

Minato’s voice was soft, but it carried perfectly over the sound of rushing water. Kakashi breathed slowly, as he had learned at the Academy.

“Breathe in…” Kakashi listened to his teacher’s soft voice. “And out. In… out. Good. Now, focus on your chakra building in your chest…”

Kakashi felt his body relax as the familiar warmth of his chakra filled his chest. He grew even more aware of his surroundings. He heard Rin’s slow breathing; could feel Obito’s chakra moving. He was squirming on the rock, clearly uncomfortable.

“Now… focus on your spirit. How are you feeling today?” 

“Pretty good,” Obito mumbled aloud.

“...silently think about the day; feel the weather.” Minato-sensei’s voice began fading away as Kakashi felt like he left his body. He found himself in a strange place- everything was grey, except for a tall woman with white face paint.

“Hello, Kakashi.” She reached a hand out with a smile.

“Who the  _ hell _ are you?” Kakashi asked, leaning back.

“I am Kyoshi. Kakashi, I need to talk to you. You-”

Suddenly, he was back in reality- in the freezing river. He yelled out as he fell, flailing in an attempt to get to shore.

“Kakashi! What happened?” Minato-sensei started running on the water to get to him. Kakashi felt an arm slide under his as Minato lifted him out of the water and carried him back to shore, putting him down on the grass, where he curled into a ball to keep warm.

“I- I saw a woman and she startled me,” he grumbled. “I’ll try again.”

“What?”

“A woman. She tried to tell me something but I fell in the river.”

“What did she say?” Minato sighed. “You’re not supposed to  _ see people  _ when you meditate.”

“She said her name was Kyoshi and that she needed-”

“Kyoshi?” Minato hissed.

“Yeah. She- she tried to say something to me but then I fell in the river-”

“Rin! Obito! Let’s call it a day. I need to get Kakashi somewhere warm and talk to him about- uh- not falling in rivers. You two are dismissed. Go home.”

***

“Minato-sensei looks scared,” Obito whispered to Rin.

“Yeah. But you heard what he said. We’re dismissed. We have to go home.” 

“Well, I’m gonna listen in.” Obito concealed himself in a tree.

“I’m in no way a part of this,” Rin whispered before running off.

“Kyoshi? What- what did she look like?” Minato’s eyes were wide.

“Tall. And- and she had white facepaint- hey! Why does that matter?” Kakashi asked. “Who is she?”

“Kakashi, you can’t talk to her.” Minato-sensei looked terrified. Obito had no idea who this Kyoshi person could be.

“Why?” Kakashi asked.

“She’s dangerous, Kakashi. Don’t listen to anything she says.”

“Why?” Kakashi asked, standing up and looking directly in Minato-sensei’s eyes. Obito had to give it to Bakashi- he was brave.

“Kakashi, you have to stay  _ far  _ away from her, understand me?”

“I- sensei, I feel some kind of- some kind of connection! I can’t explain it, but I need to talk to her!” Kakashi stood on tiptoe to get closer to Minato’s face.

“She’s been dead for years, Kakashi! You can’t talk to dead people!” Minato’s patience was wearing thin.

“But-”

“Kakashi, you can’t talk to her, okay? You’ll get yourself killed!”

“I don’t care!”

“Kakashi, she was a Bender. She was the Avatar. She  _ will _ kill you. Believe me. You don’t want to associate with her.”

“Sensei, I feel a connection of some sort! I-”

“No, you don’t!” Minato yelled.

“You won’t stop me from talking to her. Sensei, she can teach me to be stronger. I feel it!”

“I don’t care! She’s too dangerous for you to talk to her!”

“Well, then, I guess I’m alone in this.” Kakashi turned on his heel, beginning to walk off. Minato grabbed his wrist and spun him back around.

“Kakashi, listen to me.”

“No,” Kakashi whispered.

“Kakashi Hatake, this is a command from your jonin sensei. You cannot speak to Kyoshi. Never. Not at all.”

“Well, it’s not my fault that she came to speak to  _ me!” _

_ “Kakashi, don’t you dare talk back to me like that!”  _ Minato smacked him on the head and Obito gasped. He was gone too fast to see what happened next.

***

Minato hit his student. He had  _ hit  _ a  _ five year old. _ Right after his hand had made contact, there was a gasp from the trees. He sensed Obito’s feeble chakra. His student ran away, his chakra signature fading quickly.

_ Why didn’t I notice him before?  _ He wondered, cursing himself. But when he turned back to apologize to Kakashi, the boy was gone. He’d messed up. Badly. He followed his young student’s tracks, which led back to where the boy lived.

“Kakashi?” he knocked on the door. There was no answer. “Kakashi, open up! I know you’re in there!” Still no answer. Minato realized that maybe Kakashi didn’t want to talk. He took a shaky breath and put his ear against the door. There was no sound coming from inside, but he could sense his student somewhere in there. “I’ll see you tomorrow at training,” he sighed before turning away to run home.

“You’re home early,” Kushina said with a smile as Minato stepped through the door. “Hey, what’s wrong? Minato, what happened?”

“Ah, nothing! We just- we just ended early!”

“You’re lying.”

“I can’t tell you. I- I don’t have clearance.”

“At least tell me all three of your students are okay,” she pleaded.

“None of them are in the hospital and they are all alive,” he said with a nod. “But… one of them got to the end of my nerves and I hit him.”

“Which one?” Kushina asked. “Don’t tell me you hit the youngest one.”

“I-” Minato sat at the table and put his head in his hands with a groan. “Kakashi’s a little shit, Kushina.” He laughed slightly.

“He’s  _ five!” _

“I know-”

“Minato, you  _ will _ tell me why you hit him!”

“He struck a nerve and my hand moved without my control-”

“Oh, yeah, sure! Without your control! Minato, he’s so young! And you  _ hit  _ him!”

“I apologized and I think he forgives me,” Minato said softly.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you lost your temper!”

“I know.”

***

Kakashi sat down in the middle of the kitchen. He’d been a genin for two weeks and he’d already messed it all up. He took a shuddery breath and sat on the floor, breathing slowly. 

“Don’t fall in a river this time.” The woman appeared again with a smile. 

“Hey!” Kakashi took a step closer. She was literally twice his height, but he was determined to stand up to her. “I- Minato-sensei told me how dangerous you are! Is it true?”

“Hey, hey, listen to me.” Kyoshi knelt down to Kakashi’s height, resting her hands on his shoulders, somehow sensing his distrust and fear. When Kakashi’s eyes met hers, he felt like he was looking into his own. “Kakashi, you don’t belong in these lands.”

“What does that-”

“Shh. Kakashi, you are the Avatar. Or- the other Avatar. You can control all four elements. Just let me teach you.”

“Who even are you? All you told me was your name.”

“I am Avatar Kyoshi. Kakashi, give me a minute to explain.” Kyoshi sat cross-legged, clearly expecting Kakashi to do the same. Kakashi reached for a kunai or  _ something  _ to protect himself, but came back empty handed. “Kakashi, listen.”

“Okay.” Kakashi took a deep breath and sat down a few feet away from her.

“Good. Now, how much do you know about us benders?”

“I only heard of them today,” Kakashi said softly, though his pride was telling him to pretend he knew everything.

“That’s to be expected,” Kyoshi sighed. “Let me explain everything to you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys get a bit of the backstory here!!!!

“It all started ten thousand years ago… one thousand in this dimension.” Kyoshi smiled. “Kaguya Ōtsutsuki came to Earth, birthing the first Avatar, giving Chakra abilities to people here, and creating the Time Dilation. The Time Dilation makes life here pass ten times slower than in the land of Benders.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Kakashi said. “How can-”

“The Time Dilation begun thousands of years ago, Kakashi. I can’t explain it. All I know is that it’s happening and has been happening. Now let me explain.” Kakashi nodded, not wanting to anger her. “The Avatar is somebody who can control all four elements. Many people in  _ my… _ dimension- the land of Benders, as you call it, can control different elements. Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. People there are split into different Nations based on the element they can bend.”

“How do you figure out what element you can bend?” Kakashi was certainly intrigued by the concept. 

“It’s based on your family- my mother was an Airbender, and my father was an Earth bender. I was known as an Earth bender before I figured out that I was the Avatar. Different tribes have different tests to figure out if the Avatar lives among them, but I somehow failed my tribe’s test.” Kyoshi laughed. “The title of Avatar went to somebody else.” She reached forward and ruffled his hair. “You need some time to process this, don’t you?” 

“Wait!” Kakashi stood up as she faded away. “Kyoshi-” His eyes flew open and he found himself in his own home. He looked around and swore softly to himself before standing to cook dinner.

***

Kakashi took even longer than usual to fall asleep- he was always afraid to fall asleep, with the nightmares and risk of intruders. But tonight, he couldn’t stop thinking about Kyoshi and Benders. He didn’t fully understand what this ‘bending’ thing was, but he wanted to learn. He wanted Kyoshi to tell him everything- if he really  _ was  _ the Avatar, then that meant that he could control the four elements. He wanted to learn how.

He swore to himself that he would never tell anybody unless he needed to. He would never, ever tell Minato-sensei. He would never tell his teammates. He would never tell the Hokage. No, scratch that. If it were necessary, he would tell the Hokage. If anything got out of hand, he would tell him.

“Good night,” he whispered to himself as his eyes closed and he drifted off.

***

“Kakashi, did you meditate again yesterday?” Minato-sensei asked as Kakashi walked up to the team.

“Yes. But I… pushed her away.” Kakashi felt  _ slightly  _ bad for lying to his teacher, but what choice did he have? “I didn’t let her say anything to me.”

“Good.” Minato-sensei looked genuinely relieved, but Kakashi knew to be wary of more questions.

“Hey, Bakashi!” Obito ran over, and Minato-sensei immediately plastered a happy look on his face. Rin quickly followed behind him. “You know what we’re doing today?”

“You could always just ask me,” Minato-sensei said with a hint of amusement.

“Well? What’re we doing?”

“We’ll start every day by meditating now,” Minato said with a small laugh. “Although we may stay away from rivers, just to be safe.” Kakashi scowled. “After that, we’ll work on sparring against each other and evaluating your moves, then we’ll take a few D-ranked missions, then I was thinking you three could come to my house for dinner. You could also meet my girlfriend!”

“Ooh, we’ve heard so much good stuff about her, sensei!” Rin said excitedly.

“Kakashi, Obito? Sound good?”

“Yeah!” Obito said with a grin.

“Hn.” Kakashi crossed his arms.

“Alright, meet me at Training Ground Three! First one there gets to sit out first for sparring!” Minato-sensei smiled at the three students before putting his hands together and disappearing. Kakashi wasn’t an idiot- he knew that it was a trick so that his teacher could talk to him one-on one. So he moved at a slower pace, watching as Obito sprinted across the village. 

He knew that Rin would be first- she always managed to find a shortcut and arrive before Obito.

“Kakashi, you were slow on purpose,” Minato-sensei said, crossing his arms as Kakashi came in dead last.

“And?”

“Hey! Sensei, you don’t know that! Maybe he was just being slow today!” Obito shouted. “He’s probably just tired today!”

“That’s a… very real possibility.” Minato-sensei’s eyes locked meaningfully with Kakashi’s, and Kakashi stared back.

“I’m just tired today.” Kakashi smirked. “Due to… personal issues.”

“Which are?”  
“You know.”

“Sorry.” Minato-sensei laughed awkwardly, not wanting to alert his two other students. “Well, we might as well start meditating then! Sit down!”

Kakashi sat down and closed his eyes, trying not to seem too eager. 

“Alright. Close your eyes and breathe. If _any_ thoughts come to your mind, dismiss them. Any thoughts… _visions,_ _other voices…_ just let them go.” Kakashi was starting to think that maybe Minato-sensei’s words were directed at him. He focused on trying to talk to Kyoshi.

_ “Kakashi…”  _ Kyoshi’s voice was far off.  _ “Be patient.” _

“Focus on the air around you. How does it feel?” Minato-sensei asked, pulling Kakashi back. He breathed, letting out a slight sigh. He figured Kyoshi wouldn’t speak to him until that evening when no one else could see his reactions. Or just the fact that she didn't want to tell him yet. It made sense _ ,  _ but Kakashi was too curious. He desperately wanted to know.

_ “Kakashi… I can’t speak with you now! You must be alone when you find out this information!” _ Kyoshi’s voice sounded exasperated, so Kakashi chose to focus on his chakra instead of communication.

“Now, take one last breath before disappearing into your mind,” Minato-sensei said softly. Kakashi took a deep breath before he felt his body relax and the world around him come into full focus around him- he felt Rin’s chakra on his left, cool and smooth like water, and Obito’s on his right, fiery and jagged. He felt Minato-sensei’s chakra about a meter away, moving in slow circles around him. He heard his teacher’s footsteps going around and around him and his teammates. He sat still for however long they sat, observing everything around him with his eyes closed.

“Good. Now, I need all of you to open your eyes.”

“So bright!” Obito complained.

“It’s daytime, Obito, of course it’s bright out,” Kakashi scoffed. 

“Well-”

“Stop bickering, you two. You’re actually the first to get up and spar. This is a taijutsu-only match. Rin and I are going to analyze your moves from here.” Minato-sensei took a step back as Kakashi and Obito stood up.

“This’ll be a piece of cake!” Obito said, cracking his knuckles. He ran in, throwing a kick. Kakashi grabbed his leg, pulling him into his fist, which he had subtly charged with chakra. Obito hunched over, coughing, as Kakashi’s fist drove into his stomach. 

“Easy,” Kakashi said, smirking. For good measure, he reached up and grabbed the back of his teammate’s shirt, pulling him down toward the ground. Obito landed on his head, rolling over so his back hit the ground as well.

“Ow…” Obito groaned.

“That certainly was… fast,” Minato-sensei muttered.

“Yeah, yeah! Wait ‘till we’re older and I’m trained more! I’m gonna be able to beat ‘im one day!”

“Mhm,” Kakashi muttered sarcastically. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys think I need to explain the Time Dilation a bit more? I mean, I do eventually, but I have everything planned out in my head so if something doesn't quite make sense, please tell me!!! (also, i know that minato's characterization is a bit off, i'm sorry!!! he's not nearly as aggressive in canon, i know, but he needs to be for this to really work)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one didn't flow as well as some others, but oh, well. The next one is much better, even if it's a bit confusing.

“Hey!” Kushina smiled first at Minato, then at his three students as they walked in through the door. “Obito, Rin, and Kakashi, right?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Obito grinned up at her.

“Yep.” Rin smiled.

“Hm.” Kakashi remained emotionless, as always.

“Good to know,” she said slowly, as though she was trying to think of what to say next. “Minato, the pasta is on the stove, mind getting it into a bowl?”

“Alright!” Minato smiled at his girlfriend and ambled off to the kitchen.

“So… you three.” Kushina led the kids to the kitchen table, motioning for them to sit. “How’s training under Minato?”

“It’s really fun!” Obito said excitedly. “Although, he and Kakashi have been acting weirdly lately. Yesterday, Bakashi fell in a river and then Minato sent us home!”

“Yeah. Do you know what that’s about?” Rin asked.

“No, I thought you guys would know more about it. That was when he hit Kakashi, right? Which  _ really  _ isn’t okay, you know?”

“Yeah. They were talkin’ about someone named Ky-”

“Hey!” Minato walked in, smiling and holding a bowl. “I see you guys already get along!”

“Y-yeah!” Kushina leaned back with a grin. “Alright, let’s eat!”

“So, how’s training? I know the chunin exams are in a few months, do any of you know if you’re entering?” Kushina asked as she put food on her plate.

“I really want to!” Obito said.

“Yeah. It can’t be  _ that  _ hard, can it?” Kakashi asked.

“You’d be surprised,” Minato laughed. “But you three just have to remember to work as a team!”

“Yeah, yeah! But Bakashi doesn’t seem to want to work with us, sensei!” Obito said, crossing his arms.

“Is that so?” Kushina asked, laughing and raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! He’s such a-”

“Alright, let’s not start this,” Minato sighed.

***

Kakashi wanted to get home. He needed to speak with Kyoshi and find out what she was talking about. He and his teammates had already helped to clean the kitchen, and everyone was sitting in the living room, talking about missions.

“Kakashi, you seem kinda far away. You feeling okay?” Minato turned towards him. He’d long since finished his food, but was still fidgeting with his fork.

“Yes.” Kakashi looked up at him. “I-”

“You’re sure?” Minato’s gaze on Kakashi was intense.

“Yes, sensei.” Kakashi’s eyes bore right back into Minato’s.

“It- it’s getting dark outside,” Rin said suddenly, standing up. “I think I should get home.”

“Mhm.” Kakashi stood, too. “Thank you for dinner.”

“Yep!” Obito waved and followed his teammates out.

***

“Hi.” A voice greeted Kakashi as he walked into his home.

“How’re you here?” Kakashi asked, grabbing a kunai.

“Our connection is strong enough that I can bring my spirit down here to speak with you. Nobody else can see me, though.”

“Wow.” Kakashi moved through his house. “Er- do you want some food?”

“No. Let’s go get training, if you’re up for it?”

“Yes!” Kakashi grinned. 

“Alright, follow me.” Kyoshi walked up to the door and then right  _ through it. _ “As the Avatar, in a difficult battle, you can go into the Avatar state and call on me and all of the past Avatars for help.”

“Will you teach me to use the Avatar state?” Kakashi asked, opening the door to run after her.

“Of course.” Kyoshi smiled. “I’m lucky you’re so ready to learn. Roku complained that Aang- the other Avatar- wasn’t so excited for all the power placed on him. It’s in an Airbender’s nature to remain peaceful.”

“It’s important that I’m the most powerful shinobi I can be,” Kakashi said as the pair stumbled upon a river.

“Let’s try earthbending first, since it was easiest for me. See that pebble over there? Focus on it.” Kyoshi pointed at the shore of the river.

“Okay…” Kakashi stared at the pebble.

“Now, move your hands upward… slowly…” the pebble was lifted slowly as Kakashi put energy into it from a few meters away.

“That was fast,” Kyoshi said with a smile.

“Is that all there is to it?” Kakashi asked.

“No. There are tens- even hundreds of moves you should learn. But it’s impossible to learn it all in a single day- even in a single year. Take some time to practice this move. I can’t teach you more advanced moves until you master the basics.”

“Okay.” Kakashi focused on a bigger rock that was nearer- it was nearly his height- and moved his hands slowly, watching as the rock moved into the air, shaking slightly before Kakashi stumbled and sat down, panting.

“Very good.” Kakashi smiled and tried again, lifting the rock faster. He moved his arms, propelling the rock into a tree. The tree began bending at the rock’s assault, but not much happened. “You should get home and sleep.”

“No.” Kakashi looked up at her. “Not when I’m learning so much!”

“I can’t carry you home if you pass out, Kakashi.” Kyoshi stepped towards him and sighed. “If I’m seen here, you could be killed for associating with me.”

“But you told me that no one can see-”

“If I were to manifest a physical form here to lift you, people would be able to see me.”

“A-”

“Watch.” Kyoshi put her hands together and Kakashi blinked as her form came into full focus, the colors of her clothing and makeup brighter. She reached for Kakashi’s hand. He could feel her glove. “Now, anybody who comes into these forests can see me. It will be easier to train you like this, but… it’s much more dangerous. And risky.”

“But… you can just disappear… right?”

“Yes, but if I’m seen before that…”

“No one is awake,” Kakashi reassured her.

“That desperate, huh? Fine, let’s continue. With Earthbending, you can also manipulate the shape of rocks. In this form, I think I can bend.” She stomped her foot and a small wall of earth moved up- it looked like a defensive move, but Kakashi figured there were also offensive ways to use it. 

“Focus energy into your foot and stomp to-”

“Like this?” Kakashi focused energy to his foot, and when he stomped, a little bit of dirt and dust came up, but Kakashi could feel the earth willing to let him control it.

“For now, you have to take it slow. Focus more.” 

For hours, Kyoshi taught Kakashi different techniques- earthbending came quite easily to him, but it still took effort. 

“You have to be careful with this one,” said Kyoshi. “Because if you mess up, the dirt could-”

Kakashi had already tried the move, bringing rock above his head and forming a cave of sorts. The boy grinned at Kyoshi, and in the time it took him to turn, the cave fell. He had only lifted a thin layer of dirt, but it was still enough to hurt.

“- fall on your head.” Kyoshi sighed and moved the dirt away from the boy without any issue, only to find him unconscious. She sighed. “I knew it. I knew you’d pass out eventually.”

“Hn. ‘M awake.” Kakashi’s eyes focused and unfocused.

“Kakashi, it’s getting light out. You got no sleep,” Kyoshi scolded. “Get home before someone finds you out here. And you might want to take a shower.”

Kakashi groaned as he dragged himself to a standing position and took only a few steps before falling again.

“Kakashi,” Kyoshi sighed, “You’re a disaster. I knew you were too young to learn all of this.”

“No!” Kakashi shot up almost instantly, standing and grabbing a tree for support. “I’m not too young to learn this! I’m a fully-fledged shinobi-”

“Hey, hey. Shh.” Kyoshi caught him as he stumbled and his grip on the tree loosened. “I know. Shh. I know,” she said softly as Kakashi began to object. She shifted as his body continued to get limper and Kakashi collapsed. “You’re in no shape to walk home. Just… sleep.”

***

“Kakashi, you’re a disaster. I knew you were too young to learn all of this.” Gai was alerted by a woman’s voice. He moved to see who it was. He was lucky his night vision was good.

“No! I’m a fully-fledged shinobi-” 

“Hey. Hey. Shh.” Gai watched as the woman caught his Rival, who had randomly passed out for some reason. “You’re in no shape to walk home. Just… sleep.” 

“Who are you?” Gai asked her, stepping out from behind a tree.

“I’m- uh- Kakashi’s mother.”

“Woah! You’re alive? Kakashi told me he’s never met his mother! You are very beautiful!” Gai gave her a thumbs-up.

“Y- yeah. I- uh- I’m not supposed to be in the village, but I sometimes meet my- uh- son out here.” The woman smiled. “You must be his teammate.”

“I am his Eternal Rival, Maito Gai!”

“Mm.” The woman ran a hand through Kakashi’s spiky hair.

“It is an  _ honor  _ to meet you!” Gai gave her a bright grin.

“Don’t you have a lot of energy, little one?”

“It’s the Power of Youth!” 

“Gai?” Kakashi opened one eye.

“I can carry you to your team! Get on my back, my Rival!” Gai turned around.

“No.”

“Kakashi, let the boy help you. And Maito Gai?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell anyone about seeing me.” The woman helped Kakashi lean on Gai before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

“Wait!” 

“Kakashi, there you are!” Kakashi stiffened as he and Gai shuffled out of the woods and he heard his teacher call him.

“Sensei-”

“I found him passed out in the woods!” Gai yelled. “His mo-”

“Sensei, I was training. I had to- to practice a jutsu.” Kakashi smiled at his teacher. “Don’t worry.”

“Kakashi! Can you walk? Why were you out that late? What were you doing?” Minato ran over to him, helping him stand.

“I’m fine, Minato-sensei.”

“Thank you, Gai.” Minato nodded, dismissing the kid. “Shouldn’t you be at the Academy, though?”

“No! Class does not begin for another hour!”

“Okay. Well, run along then.”

“Alright!” Gai sprinted off at full speed.

“Where does that boy get his energy?” Rin asked, watching the boy in green fly across the village. 

“I don’t know,” Minato laughed. 

“Bakashi, you idiot! What were you doing out there? It got cold last night!” Obito shouted.

“I had to work on stamina,” Kakashi said quietly, trying to pull away from his teacher.

“Stamina doesn’t include passing out in the middle of the forest at night, Kakashi,” Minato reprimanded. “Besides, you should be spending your nights  _ sleeping.  _ You are growing, after all.”

“Okay.” Kakashi bowed his head.

“Good. I hope you didn’t waste all your chakra last night.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chunin exams!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know their chunin exams were differently formatted from Naruto's generation, but I changed that a bit for this one. Please enjoy :)

The chunin exams came as a bit of a surprise- Minato handed his three students application forms and soon, they were sitting at a written exam.

_ “I’ve done a bit of studying myself, you know.” _ Kyoshi’s voice echoed as a second voice in Kakashi’s head as he looked at the exam.  _ “In our spare time, Kuruk and I have taken the opportunity-” _

_ “Ah, it’s not that hard,” _ Kakashi scoffed internally as he set to work on the first question.

_ “You’ve already messed up.”  _ Kyoshi sounded amused.

_ “Where?” _ Kakashi looked over the question and found that he had forgotten the second step of the equation- division.  _ “Oh.” _

_ “Good. Now, onto the next question.” _

_ “I don’t need your help.” _

_ “Suit yourself.” _

Even after he had cast Kyoshi’s voice to the back of his mind, he was still flying through the problems easily. He was the first done, handing in his paper and leaving the exam hall.

***

The real difficulty was the Forest of Death- an older team ambushed Kakashi, Rin, and Obito, holding Obito with a kunai to his throat and carrying him up to a high tree branch.

“Obito, you idiot!” Kakashi groaned, jumping after the guy that had him.

“Ha! We won’t let you get him back that easy!” the older ninja held out the Heaven Scroll- the one Kakashi’s team needed. “Just give us your Earth scroll and we’ll let you leave alive!”

“Bold of you to assume we all want to live,” Kakashi muttered darkly, grabbing a kunai. 

“Not the time, Bakashi!” Obito yelled, squirming. “I wanna live! Really!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kakashi sighed and sprinted to the back of Obito’s captor, who swiftly dodged.

“Hey!” Kakashi heard a familiar voice yelp out in surprise.

_ “They have Rin!”  _ he thought.

“Rin!” Obito yelled. 

“Now it’s just you versus me, brat.” The last member of the team reached for a weapon. Kakashi dodged his attacks, flipping around.

“C’mon, we don’t have all day!” The guy holding Obito pulled the kunai closer to his throat.

“Hey! Please stop! I don’t wanna die!” Obito kicked and squirmed, trying to escape.

“I could use a bit of help around now!” Kakashi said, barely realizing that he’d said it aloud.

***

Obito felt the kunai drag closer and closer to his throat. He was too afraid to move- what if the person actually cut into his throat? That would be bad. Aaaaand… the enemy had Rin. That was bad. Kakashi seemed to be fighting a losing battle… that was also bad.

“I could use a bit of help around now!” his teammate said. Stupid Bakashi, who would help him? Suddenly, his eyes glowed a bright white and flames came out of his hands. “I will not hesitate to kill you!”

Obito could swear he heard a woman’s voice behind Kakashi’s.

“Kakashi, don’t kill him!” Rin called. “Just take his scroll!”

“Give. Me. The. Scroll!” Kakashi’s feet left the ground as he ran at the guy he was fighting, flames running from his fists and blocks of solid rock erupting from the ground. Within seconds, he’d knocked the guy to the ground.

“I don’t have the scroll!” the guy pleaded. “Please! The guy holding the kid in blue has it!”

Kakashi swiftly knocked the man unconscious with a punch before turning to the guy holding Obito. Obito screamed as Kakashi ran towards him and the guy holding him. He shut his eyes as a flaming fist neared him. He felt the heat but didn't get any major burns. Kakashi had burned the guy’s face pretty bad, though, and he screamed and threw the scroll away. Kakashi’s eyes were still glowing white as he rounded on the guy holding Rin.

“Kakashi, snap out of it!” Rin yelled as Kakashi had flames on the tips of his fingers.

“Yeah! I’m sorry! You- you win!” the guy let go of Rin, running to help his teammates up before running away.

“Jeez, what was that?” Rin asked as Kakashi’s eyes returned to normal and he collapsed to the ground.

“Nothing,” Kakashi groaned. “You… neither of you can… can tell Minato-sensei about this. He- he’ll kill me… it’s- I might have to kill you two and-”

“What are you talking about?” Rin knelt down and grabbed Kakashi’s shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

“It’s nothing. Let’s- let’s get to the tower.”

“You literally controlled fire and  _ flew, _ Kakashi!” Obito yelled. “And your eyes glowed bright white!”

“Shut up!” Kakashi interrupted, standing up shakily. “You can’t tell  _ anyone _ about this. It- I’m not-” he sighed. “I’m not supposed to be using that power.”

“Well I’m not surprised,” Rin huffed. “If you used that power all the time, you’d be unbeatable!”

“Yeah. Now, let’s get going.”

“You’re gonna have to teach me-”

“Obito, it’s impossible to teach,” Kakashi sighed.

***

The one-on-one battles were difficult- Obito was beaten by Maito Gai, which came as no surprise. Rin beat her opponent, who was fighting from a foreign village; same with Kakashi. 

In the second battle, Kakashi fought Gai. It was a battle of quick thinking and even faster moving- Kakashi had refused any help from Kyoshi; he was completely sure he could beat the boy on his own. And he did, knocking him to the ground after little more than a minute. 

_ “Well done.” _ Kyoshi’s voice held a note of pride.

_ “Yeah, yeah. It wasn’t hard.” _ Kakashi left the field feeling proud of himself.

***

“Well done, Kakashi!” Minato stood by his youngest student, who was watching the battles with a faraway look in his eyes. “You fought well.”

“Thanks, sensei,” he said, eyes scanning the field.

“Hey, what’s bothering you?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Kakashi, if it was nothing, you’d be watching the battles intently and assessing everyone’s moves. I know how you are.”

“Really, it’s nothing.”

“That’s not true. Kakashi, tell me. That’s an order.”

“In the Forest of Death…” Kakashi began, sighing.

“What happened?” Minato leaned on the rail by him, moving closer to encourage him to keep speaking.

“I- I nearly killed three people.”

“What? Kakashi, how did that happen?”

“They threatened Obito and Rin… one had the scroll and caught Obito. Another one caught Rin. The last one charged at me, and… a lot happened, and I almost killed him.” Kakashi sighed. “I don’t know what came over me, Sensei. I used an- uh- original jutsu- the, uh, Chidori- and hit the second guy in the face… he let Obito go pretty fast.” The boy laughed slightly before getting a dark look in his eyes. “I left him with serious burns, and the one holding Rin… well, he was too scared of me to fight. He surrendered and helped his teammates up before running away.

“Do you know what happened?” Minato asked. “Why you freaked out like that?”

“N- no. Of course not. It just… happened.” Kakashi looked startled by the question. “I already told you.”

“Hey, maybe you actually care about your teammates!” Minato laughed slightly, pinching Kakashi’s cheek.

“No, that- that’s not it,” Kakashi sighed, almost immediately realizing that he should have just shut up.

“Really? Obito, come here real quick,” Minato called.

“Yes, sensei?”

“What happened in the Forest of Death? When… when someone caught you and Rin and charged at Kakashi? What did Kakashi do?”

“He made me promise not to tell anyone.”

“Obito, this is serious. Was there anything funny with… say… his voice? His eyes? His movements?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Obito, this is important.” Minato’s voice was steady but there was a tense note. Kakashi realized that he could snap at any second. That was bad. He knew. Minato-sensei knew what had happened.

“Well… his eyes… they glowed white. Like, really bright. And when he talked, it sounded like there was a woman there, too! It was really creepy. Oh, and it looked like he could control fire and fly and the ground-”

“I knew it,” Minato whispered. “Kakashi-”

“She took over my mind! I couldn’t control it,” Kakashi argued. “It- it could be like, a fear reaction! Like, when I’m really mad or afraid, it just- just happens!”

“Then why’d you say ‘I could use some help here?’” Obito asked. “I mean, if you didn’t have control-”

“Kakashi!” Minato-sensei’s voice was even tighter than before.

“Yes?” 

“Come with me.” Minato started walking away.

“Sensei, what’s going on?” Rin asked.

“I don’t have… permission to tell you. Kakashi, come with me.” Kakashi sighed and followed his teacher.

“I’m sorry-”

“Kakashi, not now.”

“I know I shouldn’t have-”

“Wait until we’re outside.” Minato led his student out to a hallway, away from everyone else.

“Sensei, we could all have  _ died!” _

“I get that.” Minato took a deep breath. “But you could also have destroyed the entire forest by mistake.”

“What?”

“Kakashi, when Kyoshi was alive, she was one of the most powerful people to ever exist.”

“More powerful than Lord Third?”

“Far more powerful.” Minato sighed. “My teacher- Jiraiya- met Kyoshi. Around thirty years ago, when Kyoshi was alive-”

“I thought she died two hundred years ago.”

“Thirty years in this world is three hundred there, Kakashi. I’m sure  _ she  _ told you.” Minato’s voice held a spiteful note. “Around thirty years ago, there was a weak spot in the barrier between worlds. People could physically travel between worlds without too much of an issue. Normally, only the Avatar could do that, and only through meditation.” Minato-sensei paused. “Kyoshi visited us here and she-” he took a shuddery breath. “She nearly killed my parents and took my grandmother for her Warriors, a group of women who she taught the fighting style of her partner, Rangi. I grew up on stories of how terrible Benders are, so you’ll have to forgive my bias, but she wasn’t as great as you think she was.”

“She-” Kakashi began speaking before stopping abruptly and putting his hands over his head. His eyes glowed white for a split second before there was a puff of smoke and a seven-foot-tall woman replaced Minato’s student.

“Minato.” She spoke. “You are a great man, and I do not blame you for your hatred of me. But please remember… Kakashi is the Avatar, and it is his destiny to bend and save us all. He is almost like a son to me now, and I can’t just let you-”

“No.” Minato shook his head. “He is also my  _ student.  _ I’m his legal guardian!”

“That doesn’t-”

“Minato-sensei!” Rin ran out of the arena to where Kyoshi and Minato were. “Who’s this? Sensei?”

“Rin, you might want to back up.”

“Why?”

Minato didn’t offer an answer- instead, he moved to punch Kyoshi across the face with a chakra-infused fist.

***

Rin excitedly ran to tell Minato-sensei about how she won against a shinobi much bigger than her, but she only saw a super tall woman, all dressed in green.

“Minato-sensei?” She ran to the side, hoping that her teacher was behind the woman. “Who’s this? Sensei?”

“Rin, you might want to back up.” Minato-sensei’s voice was shaky, with both fear and anger.

“Why?” Rin didn’t get an answer. Her teacher’s fist began glowing slightly with chakra, and with a shout, he moved to punch the woman across the face. 

“Minato,  _ listen,” _ the woman sounded exasperated.

“I’d suggest you listen to me too.” Minato swung at her again.

“Minato, I can’t feel pain in this form. Anything you hit me with will only hurt Kakashi. Now  _ listen.  _ I don’t care if your student hears too, but you need to know what I’m going to tell you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm a little bit late... yesterday was Halloween and it was a bit chaotic, so I didn't have the time. Aaaaaaaaanyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!

“Sensei, who is she?” Rin asked.

“Rin, you’re… not old enough to know.” Minato-sensei looked absolutely terrified. “Now, Kyoshi, tell me what is  _ so important.” _

“When Kakashi finishes his training with me- anywhere from five to ten years from now- he will have to go to the other dimension. There is another Avatar there- his name is Aang. Aang has been unconscious for sixty years in our dimension.”

“How?” Minato asked.

“He was frozen in ice. But with no way to connect to the rest of that world, I am not able to give those people this information. It is paramount that Kakashi arrives and helps as soon as possible.”

“Why would we care?” Minato asked.

“Why can’t we send somebody else there?” Rin asked. “There are plenty of capable shinobi who could help!”

“Only the Avatar can travel dimensions, young one, though every few hundred years, the rift between dimensions weakens and people with a strong connection to both spirits and earth can travel back and forth. The cycle is becoming more and more noticeable- you may have heard stories of how my Kyoshi Warriors and I came here years ago and recruited people-”

“Kidnapped-”

“Everybody came willingly, Minato. I am afraid that if we don’t act soon, the wall between realities could completely disappear. You know the chaos that could cause.”

“I’m afraid I do.” Minato-sensei sighed. “So we’ll have to work together, huh?” He reached out a hand for the woman to shake.

“Yes. I am afraid so. Keep him safe for me.” The woman suddenly stepped forward and pulled Minato-sensei into an awkward hug. He grudgingly let her hold his head close to her heart for a second before stepping back.

“Sensei, what’s-”

There was a puff of smoke and the woman disappeared. In her place, Kakashi appeared, shaking on his feet. Minato-sensei dropped down to catch him before he collapsed, and Kakashi looked barely conscious.

“Kakashi!” Rin ran over to him.

“What happened?” Minato asked. “Kakashi, how-”

“I think she forced herself into my mind.” 

“She can do that?”

“I- I don’t know.” Kakashi looked like he was about to cry. “But my head hurts…”

“Have you been training with her, Kakashi? Is that why you’re always so tired when you come to training?”

“I can explain-”

“Kakashi, how much do you sleep?”

“Every other night, most of the time,” Kakashi muttered. “Six hours then.”

“That’s not enough,” Minato sighed. “Kakashi, you need to stop training with her. I- I know how important it is that you help them, but you still have a life here.”

“Do I?”

“Kakashi…” Minato rested his hand on his student’s shoulder, kneeling to his level. Those two words had shattered his heart into a million pieces and he took a deep breath, hoping to pick them back up.

“When I can, I’ll take a mission and… and I’ll get there, Sensei.” Kakashi refused to meet his eyes.

Minato sighed. “Kakashi, I don’t know if you’ll be able to get a mission approved. You can’t just go into uncharted territory alone.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Minato laughed humorlessly. “It’s because you could die-”

“I’m the Avatar; I’ll be fine.”

“You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I will have an idea if I can continue speaking with-”

“No.”

“Sensei, you still haven’t said what’s going on!” Rin was terrified and confused.

“Rin, go get Obito and tell him that we can’t train tomorrow.” Rin nodded and ran back.

“Why?” Kakashi asked.

“I’ll have to seal her spirit away, won’t I?”

“No!” Kakashi jumped back, standing far away from his teacher. “I won’t let you!”

“Kakashi, I have to. I’ve already discussed it with Lord Hokage, and this conversation further proves the necessity.” Minato sighed. “I’ll meet you outside the hospital tomorrow at seven, and don’t think I won’t track you down.”

“Yes, sir.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sometimes it's easy to forget that minato was sixteen when he was assigned to teach kakashi and so he was probably BARELY seventeen when he was in charge of a genin team... this chapter's longer than the others, have fun reading :))

Kakashi awoke and rubbed his eyes before standing and grabbing some clothes, lazily pulling them on and strapping his weapons onto his back. He sighed, looking in his mirror before leaving to meet Minato-sensei, not even bothering to eat breakfast. Might as well get it over with as quickly as possible. It wasn’t worth stalling.

“Hello, Kakashi.” Minato-sensei was already there, standing in front speaking with Lord Third. 

“Hm.” Kakashi just glared at him, careful to hide the shuddery, scared breath he took as he walked by his teacher.

“Kakashi.” Lord Hokage stared into his eyes. “Come with me. Minato, you stay out here for now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lord Hokage walked into the room- which was more of a giant metal box- crossing his arms. Kakashi groaned internally. He knew the movement meant he was going to be in for a lecture.

“You follow every rule, regulation, instruction, requirement, and even simple tasks on the every whim of your superiors. And yet you refuse to quit talking to this  _ spirit. _ Why? I would like an honest answer, Kakashi.”

Kakashi paused, trying to think of an answer that wouldn’t reveal too much. After a half second, he decided that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to reveal the truth, revealing everything he needed to with three short words.

“I’m the Avatar.”

***

“I’m the Avatar.” The boy couldn’t be lying- he would have no idea what the Avatar was. He had no way of knowing.

“Do you know what that means?” Hiruzen rested his chin on his hands.

“I can bend all four elements and connect with spirits.”

“So you are,” Hiruzen sighed. “Kakashi, are you in contact with Avatar Roku?”

“No, sir.”

“Kakashi, are you telling me the truth?” Hiruzen asked in a painfully patronizing tone. He wanted to drag the truth out of Kakashi, no matter what it took.

“Yes.” 

“Kakashi, who told you that you were the Avatar then?”

“Kyoshi.” 

“I see. We have to seal away the spirit of the Avatars. With that, we’ll likely be sealing away your Bending powers, too.”

“No!” Kakashi leaned forward before controlling himself and stepping away from Hiruzen. “I can’t let you.”

“Kakashi, we have no choice. What’ll happen if your spirit gets out of control? You could accidentally destroy the entire village… or more.”

“Sir, I’m sorry. I- I’ll train harder to keep control. There’s a form of meditation where I can go to their dimension and train there. Maybe-”

“No. Kakashi, we have to seal it away. Minato! Come in here!”

“Sir-” Kakashi’s breath quickened.

“Yes, sir.” Minato bowed slightly as he walked into the room.

“You were right. We are to seal the spirits away. I have a few seals that we can perform.” Hiruzen almost felt bad about the look of fear on the boy’s face as he gestured to the circles and seals he’d drawn on the ground. 

“Kakashi, we’ll need your shirt off.” Minato’s voice was soft. He clearly felt bad about it, but Hiruzen knew that he wouldn’t disobey a direct order.

“Alright.” Kakashi slowly strode to the corner of the room, resting his weapons and shirt in a neat pile.

“This shouldn’t hurt too bad.” Minato led Kakashi to a circle in the middle of the room, letting him sit down, guiding his hands to the ground.

***

Kakashi was terrified, to say the least. He didn’t want to lose Kyoshi or his bending. They were crucial parts of him- why didn’t anyone understand? But nonetheless, he sat on the ground, resting his hands on the cool concrete. He barely heard Minato-sensei’s calm words of comfort and encouragement. 

_ “I’m not going anywhere.” _ Kyoshi’s voice filled his head, and he didn’t miss the note of fear in her voice.

“Ready, Kakashi?” Minato untied Kakashi’s headband and laid it on the ground by the rest of his things.

“Yes.”

_ “Nothing to worry about.” _

“Begin.” Lord Hokage placed a hand on Kakashi’s left shoulder, Minato on his right. Pain coursed through Kakashi as he felt the seals enter through his hands and arms.

_ “If they ask, I’m gone. I- AH!”  _

“No! Stop!” Kakashi tried to speak, but his words descended into screams as Minato and Hiruzen performed the sealing jutsu. It hurt more than anything Kakashi had ever endured before, stinging and singeing every centimeter of skin and making every bone and muscle sore.

_ “I can’t… hold on…”  _ Kyoshi’s voice was fading from the back of Kakashi’s mind and pain coursed through Kakashi’s entire body, weakening him.

***

Kakashi’s eyes lost the white glow they had picked up during the sealing and the boy fell to the ground. Minato and Lord Hokage had finished the seal, so Minato could kneel down beside him. Lord Hokage inspected the seals- two similar black circles on the boy’s shoulders and back, with words and symbols in and out; Minato figured they must have been painful.

“I heard screaming.” Rin burst into the room. “Sensei, what’s going on?”

“A lot. Now, Rin, don’t you have somewhere to be?” Minato moved to try and block Kakashi from view.

“The doctors told me that there was a sealing going on down here but then we heard another voice and they asked me to come see what happened.”

“Just a spirit,” Lord Hokage said. “Nothing to worry about. Now, go back to where you were. And close the door on your way out!”

“Ah! Yes, sir!” Rin bowed and ran off. “I’m sorry!”

“Kakashi, wake up.” He lightly shook the boy, and he managed to open one eye.

“I’ll get his things.” Lord Hokage moved to the corner of the room as Minato lightly lifted Kakashi and held him carefully, as if he could snap at any second.

“Sensei.” Kakashi’s voice was soft and hoarse.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Kakashi’s eyes told a different story. They were drooping and there was a foggy expression in them that Minato had seen in almost all of his comrades- absolute exhaustion.

“You might need a few days before your body is used to the seals.” Lord Hokage placed Kakashi’s stuff by him. “I recommend a night’s sleep and healthy food and he’ll be back up and running tomorrow.”

He was wrong.

***

The next day, Kakashi awoke, only half-expecting the ‘good morning’ that always sounded in the back of his mind. His alarm was screeching at him, but he didn’t have the energy to reach over and turn it off. He didn’t have the energy to stand up, to go to the bathroom, to get breakfast… instead of trying to get up, his eyes drooped shut and he rolled back over.

Two hours later, he was still too tired to get up, but he was awoken again by a knock on the front door. He didn’t have the energy to even call out. He figured they would come in either way, so he tried to sit up, to no avail.

“Kakashi.” Lord Hokage’s voice echoed through his home, and the man eventually found Kakashi. “You need to eat something.” The man leaned over his bed.

“Yes, sir?” Kakashi’s voice was little more than a croak, and he had no energy- he didn’t even feel hungry.

“Sit up.” Lord Hokage helped Kakashi up, supporting the majority of his weight- to be fair, it wasn’t much, but Kakashi didn’t have the energy to support himself.

“Can’t.” Kakashi’s voice was slightly stronger. 

***

“Where’s Bakashi?” Obito asked. “He’s thirty minutes late!”

“I don’t think he’s coming,” Minato-sensei said. “C’mon, we’re going to Field Five.”

“Does this have something to do with yesterday?” Rin asked. 

“Of course not.” Minato-sensei paused before dropping the defensive tone and sighing. “Yeah. Obito, when you told me about him freaking out in the forest, didn’t you say that it sounded like there was a woman there too?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, well, I guess now would be a good time for me to tell you two the truth.” Minato-sensei sat on a log, motioning for Obito and Rin to sit as well. “Kakashi’s spirit isn’t… from this dimension.”

“What do you mean?” Rin asked.

“He shares a spirit with at least a hundred other people… all of which are dead and from a dimension we can’t reach. But Kakashi can because of his… special spirit.” Minato-sensei seemed to be having trouble explaining. “The dimension that his spirit is from also experiences time differently from us. Ten years there is equivalent to only one here. Kakashi can connect to that dimension, in theory, through meditation. And Rin, that woman you saw in the Chunin Exams, is one of the dead people he shares a spirit with.”

“So she was dead?” Rin asked.

“She died about two hundred years ago- or twenty years here. Kakashi’s connection with her is stronger with his connection to anybody else.”

“That still doesn’t quite explain how he had those powers in the forest,” Rin said.

“I’m getting to that.” Minato-sensei’s voice was still calm, but Obito could tell that he was nervous to reveal everything. “The reason he’s connected to all those people is because he’s something called the Avatar. In the dimension his spirit is from, people can control the elements- it’s called Bending, and most people can only bend- or control- one element- if not none. Since Kakashi is the Avatar, he can bend all four of the regular elements, which are Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Understand so far?”

“Nope.” Obito shook his head.

“So Kakashi doesn’t actually belong here, technically?” Rin asked. 

“I’m not sure. I don’t even know how it’s possible for him to be the Avatar.”

“That’s weird,” Rin said softly. 

“Well, that’s all I know.” Minato smiled at his students. “Let’s start training.”

“You can’t just tell us that Kakashi is from another dimension then to start training! Sensei, how- why isn’t he here today?”

“Yesterday, Lord Hokage and I sealed away the spirits. Kakashi needs a day to recuperate and get used to the absence of spirits. Lord Hokage should be visiting him to be sure he’s okay in an hour or so.”

***

Hiruzen was concerned about Kakashi. He was sure the kid would be fine after a good night’s rest- maybe a little tired or sore, but fine- but he was unable to sit up and wouldn’t even accept food. Hiruzen had put in the effort to carry the boy to the kitchen table, though he could tell Kakashi was embarrassed to be carried around.

“Kakashi, you have to eat something.”

“I can’t lift my hand.” The boy’s voice was a feeble whisper, but the Third Hokage understood each word. He sighed. “I’ll be back later with a doctor.”

“I’m sorry.” The boy’s eyelids drooped and he passed out, head against the back of the chair. Hiruzen sighed again and carried him back to his bed. He wouldn’t want the poor kid to wake up sore. He was already going through a lot.

***

“Minato.” Lord Third walked out to where Minato was training with Obito and Rin.

“Yes?” Minato stopped, getting punched across the face by Obito after losing his focus for a split second. 

“Sorry, sensei!” Obito stopped moving. “Lord Third! What are you doing here?”

“Kakashi can’t move.”

“What?” Minato’s eyebrows shot up. 

“He’s too exhausted to move. I think it was from sealing the-”

“The spirits,” Minato whispered.

“Sensei, you said that Kakashi is  _ supposed to be tired! _ ” Obito said. 

“Not unable to move,” Minato said, his face paling.

“Sensei, is he okay?” Rin asked.

“I sent an ANBU nin to bring him to the hospital. Don’t worry.” Lord Third reached forward and ruffled Rin’s hair. She tried to smile.

“Well, if he’s in the hospital, then we should be able to get back to training, then.” Minato plastered a smile on his face to reassure his students. Lord Third nodded.

“I just thought it was important for you to know- he could be out for longer than we expected.”

“Thank you, sir.” Minato bowed slightly, his students following suit as Lord Third left.

“Is he really going to be okay, Sensei?” Rin asked when the Hokage was out of earshot.

“I don’t know, Rin. I don’t know.” Minato rested a hand on his student’s shoulder as they watched the Hokage leave. Rin took a shuddery breath before nodding. 

“Then we should get back to training, yes?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm trying to make the chapters a bit longer now- I'm combining what was originally two chapters into one now. Anyway, I don't really like the flow of this one- I think there are too many time skips, but this is just... how it is I guess. I couldn't figure out how to really fix it.  
> ALSO- I know that there's that ancient legend about the order of mastering the elements?????? I kinda figured that since Kakashi comes from another land, he's going to learn in a less orthodox way. Plus, Kyoshi was never a normal Avatar, so she's going to teach Kakashi in a different way I guess??????

Kakashi opened his eyes, finding himself hooked to machines in the hospital. He hated the hospital. His eyes drifted over to the window, where Minato-sensei was sitting and reading one of Master Jiraiya’s dirty books. Kakashi suddenly realized how dark it was outside. He must have been out for ten hours.

“You’re up.” Minato-sensei’s eyes drifted from his book to Kakashi and he hopped down from the windowsill.

“Why am I here?”

“Kakashi, you woke up and couldn’t move-”

“I can move now!” Kakashi sat up, despite the protests of every muscle in his body. 

“Stay down, Kakashi. They have to run some tests on you.” Minato placed a hand on Kakashi’s chest, lightly pushing him back down.

“Fine.” Kakashi laid down. “This is from the sealing. You-” he coughed, wincing as his chest tightened. “You know it’s your fault.”

_ “Kakashi.”  _ Minato’s voice caught in his throat. “You know it was necessary. You can’t connect with those people or terrible things will happen, you know that.”

“It feels like you sealed away my entire body,” Kakashi mumbled. “And- and my brain. What did you do?”

Minato-sensei began listing off seals and explaining what each one did. He drew them out by tracing a finger over the hospital blanket. Kakashi tried to pay attention, but the seals really made no sense to him. But he knew that both his teacher and the Hokage were incredibly intelligent, so he had no choice but to trust them. Though he  _ really  _ hated it.

***

Minato explained the seals, drawing them out in the blanket. He really thought that he and Lord Hokage had drawn up a genius plan. Sure, they’d have to redo the seals every so often to be sure they wouldn’t go away, but they had used up only a little bit of chakra and successfully sealed over a hundred spirits away. That had to be saying something, right?

“The last one was-” Minato looked at his student’s face and chuckled when he saw his eyes drooping and nearly completely shut, his head against the pillow. 

“What was the last one?” Kakashi mumbled.

“It’s not important.” Minato reached up to lightly ruffle his student’s hair. “Get some more sleep, Kakashi.”

“Mm.” Kakashi leaned slightly into Minato’s hand, and Minato smiled before deciding that he could stay a little longer. His hand  _ was  _ stuck under his young student’s head and he wasn’t about to move and wake him up, so it wasn’t like he had much of a choice, right?

***

In the morning, two doctors walked into the room where Hatake Kakashi was likely sleeping. Rin had insisted that she join them for the check, and as a young student, it was decided that she could watch. Kakashi was fast asleep, but there was a familiar blonde beside him, hand resting under the young boy’s head. He was sitting in the small chair just beside the bed, his head resting uncomfortably on his arm.

“Sensei, what’re you doing here?” Rin asked, a laugh bubbling up the back of her throat.

“Is it morning already?” Minato asked, yawning and grimacing as he stretched his neck.

“It’s no surprise you’re sore,” one of the doctors huffed. “The way you were sleeping, I’m surprised you didn’t cut off blood flow to your brain.”

“I couldn’t move!” he protested, motioning to where Kakashi’s head rested on his hand.

“I see,” Rin laughed. “C’mon, Sensei, we meet outside in an hour, right?”

“Ah! Yes, yes we do.” Minato’s eyes drifted to the clock in the corner. He carefully slid his hand out from under his student’s head and jumped out the window to get ready for teaching that day.

“He could have at least used the door,” the older doctor grumbled.

“C’mon, Kakashi, wake up!” Rin made her way to her teammate’s bedside, lightly shaking him.

“Rin?”

“Yep. C’mon, let’s get you up.” Rin helped him sit up. “How do you feel?”

“Fine.”

“We’ll need more information than that,” the younger doctor sighed.

“Tired… but I should be okay to train today,” he said.

***

The last thing Kakashi wanted was to be interrogated by doctors. He’d rather be in an ANBU interrogation room- under both mental and physical torture to his current situation.

“Tired… but I should be okay to train today.” It was a lie. He doubted he could stand properly, but if he could just get Rin to help him get outside… 

“Don’t even think about it,” Rin huffed. “You’re staying right here until you regain your strength. And don’t even try to tell me that you already have.”

“Okay,” Kakashi grumbled. He almost expected Kyoshi’s voice to berate him for trying to get up; he could imagine the slightly teasing note coloring her words and sank into the hard mattress. Her presence had been warm for months, and he’d grown too used to it. After the doctors left, he sat up and crossed his legs- if he was stuck there, he might as well meditate.

***

A week later, Kakashi was still unable to stand- much less go outside and train. He was desperate to do something.

***

“Bakashi’s still in the hospital?” Obito’s jaw dropped as Rin met him and Minato-sensei. Despite the way he usually acted, he actually cared about his annoying teammate.

“Yep.” Rin sighed. “He’s mostly just fatigued, but his heart rate is scarily low.”

“Is he okay?” Minato-sensei asked. “He’ll make it, yes?”

“Hopefully. We might have to loosen the seals if his vitals drop too much, though.” Rin fidgeted awkwardly.

“If you think it’s necessary,” Minato sighed.

“Well, let’s get started!” Obito said excitedly. “We can visit Bakashi after we finish training, right?”

“Rin?” Minato-sensei turned to his student.

“I think so.” Rin smiled.

***

“Who are you?” Minato walked into the hospital room to find a man in red standing above Kakashi. He had long, white hair and a friendly look on his face as he turned to Minato.

“My name is Roku.”

“What are you doing here?” Minato asked, motioning for his two students to get behind him as he pulled out a weapon.

“Removing the blocks you put on Avatar Kyoshi’s spirit.” The man turned away from Minato, turning the sleeping boy over on his stomach, exposing his pale back with all of the seals. Minato gripped a kunai.

“Get away from him.”

_ “No.” _

“Get away from my student or I’ll have to fight you.” Minato held his weapons and motioned for Obito and Rin to get into position.

“No, you won’t.” Roku placed a hand on Kakashi’s back, closing his eyes.

“What’s all this commotion?” A doctor ran into the room. 

“I don’t know who did it, but Kakashi over here has seals preventing him from seeing us,” Roku said. “I barely know enough chakra bending to-”

“What’re you talking about?” Rin asked. “Chakra bending- is that some kind of technique?”

“He must come from a different land,” Minato explained. “They don’t use ninjutsu like us, but they are still incredibly powerful. Angering the Avatar would be a grave mistake.” He paused, slowly dragging out a kunai. “But it’s one I’m willing to make.” Minato spun the blade around his hand before attacking Roku.

“You fool!” Roku hissed; forced to remove his hand as Minato came at him with a knife. Kakashi’s eyes flew open and he screamed as the seals on his back burned a bright white.

“Kakashi!” Rin ran over to his side- Roku froze in shock as Kakashi writhed in pain. “I’m here. Kakashi, it’s okay. Hey-” Rin placed her hand on his back, almost immediately pulling back. “Sensei, he’s too hot to touch!”

“Let me do it, you idiots!” Roku ran to Kakashi’s side, pushing Rin out of the way as he placed his hand on the boy’s back and closed his eyes, effectively ridding Kakashi of the seals. Kakashi let out another scream as spirits seemed to flow freely from his back, making their forms known.

“If you interfere with Kakashi’s connection to us again, you will deeply regret it.” The voices merged together- the crowd of semi-solid spirits made one collective sound before fading away; disappearing. “Good luck.”

“Wait!” Minato stepped forward and Roku raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“Where has Kyoshi been all this time?”

“You sealed her away, did you not? She should be back soon.” Roku smiled slightly before disappearing like the rest of the Avatars. Kyoshi, true to Roku’s word, appeared a few seconds later, walking over to Kakashi and resting a hand on his back. 

The seven-foot-tall woman smiled slightly before disappearing into where the seal had just been, leaving Kakashi unconscious and alone on the hospital bed.

“What the  _ hell  _ just happened?” a doctor asked, running to Kakashi’s side to check his vitals. “Hey, Kakashi, I need you to wake up.”

“Ugh-” Kakashi’s back was red with burns and new cuts, and the doctor’s hands glowed green with healing chakra as he placed them on the boy’s back. 

“What happened?”

“I didn’t realize there were… so many,” Kakashi whispered. 

“If you two don’t mind, I think I need to talk with my students,” Minato said to the doctors, his tone tight. They nodded and left. “Rin, Obito, you two stay.”

“Yes, sir.” Rin moved to the second bed in the room- Kakashi was the only patient in the room, so they had privacy.

“As you two know, Kakashi is something called the Avatar. He has powers beyond what we can imagine, beyond what even I know of. He can speak with one of his past lives, though there are more than a hundred. Am I correct so far, Kakashi?”

“Yes, sir. I can only speak with Kyoshi most of the time but there’s another Avatar alive right now and I think- if I go to their… dimension, I would be able to… communicate with him.”

“Wait, so Bakashi can go to another  _ dimension?” _ Obito asked, his jaw dropping.

“Yes. I would have to use a special kind of meditation but… it’s possible.” Kakashi nodded.

“Wow,” Rin whispered.

***

A few days later, Kakashi had regained his energy and could train with his team. He was more than ready to be out of the hospital- and having Kyoshi’s voice back in his mind was a relief, though it was far weaker than when she first appeared.

_ “It’s good to be back.”  _

***

A year later, Team Minato was on a C-rank mission- they had to escort a feudal lord’s daughter back to a village in the Land of Waves. They were taking a break by a river and Kakashi had taken the opportunity to train. 

_ “Focus on the water’s energy.” _ Kyoshi’s voice was soft in the back of his mind as he moved to control the water.

“Bakashi, what’re you doing?” Obito asked.

“Stop distracting me!” Kakashi shot the water at him, splashing him across the face.

“Jeez! You could’ve hit Yami!” 

“You don’t need to worry about me!” The feudal lord’s daughter laughed slightly at the boys’ antics. 

“You  _ are  _ our client,” Minato reminded her and his students.

“Bakashi!” Obito yelled. Kakashi had hit him with another stream of water. “Just because you’re finally getting the hang of waterbending doesn’t mean you get to use it against me!”

“Your students are adorable,” Yami laughed, turning to Minato. 

“No we’re not!” Obito yelled. “Bakashi just acts like a little baby so-”

“You’re one to talk,” Kakashi argued back.

“Alright, you two, stop fighting,” Minato sighed.

“You said yourself that it’s a bad idea to piss off the Avatar,” Kakashi said with a smirk that was clearly visible through his mask. “Right?”

“Kakashi-”

“The Avatar?” Yami raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“It’s a title in the- uh- village,” Minato said. “It just means he was the top of his class, right Kakashi?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kakashi rolled his eyes. 

“Interesting.” Yami stood up. “Well, should we get moving again?”

“Yeah.” Minato stood. “C’mon, you two.”

The group stood and began walking again, Minato and Kakashi up front. 

“Kakashi, you feeling okay?” Minato elbowed his student lightly.

“Yeah, why?”

“It seems like there’s something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing.” Kakashi shook his head.

“Really?”

“Well…”

“Hm?”

“You know how Fire- and Earth- bending came really easy?” Kakashi looked up at his teacher.

“Yeah. You’ve got them basically mastered, right?”

“Not quite, but I’m working on it. But Water and Air are much harder.” Kakashi fidgeted. “I’ve got a little bit of water… I can control a little bit at a time, but air… it’s hard to even tell when it’s happening, you know?”

“Yeah. Well, in a few years, you’ll be going to their world, right?”

“That’s why I need to master all of the elements now!”

“Hey, calm down. I’m sure the other Avatar still needs to learn some, too!”

“He’s already an Airbender, sensei.”

“Maybe he can help you with it, then.” Minato shrugged. “And Water bending should come relatively easy to him, in theory, so if he helps you with Air and Water, then you can teach him Earth and Fire.”

“I guess.” Kakashi crossed his arms. 

“Are you nervous?”

“About what?” 

“Going to their world. It’s going to be insanely different from ours, you know. They don’t use chakra. You’ll also have to teach this Avatar about chakra.” Minato ruffled Kakashi’s hair. “I know you’ll be a great teacher.”

“Whatever.” Kakashi rolled his eyes.

“Kakashi, I believe in you, okay?” Minato laughed softly. “Let me be proud of you.”

“Why?”

“Because I know you’re smart enough and strong enough to save the world.”

“No pressure,” Kakashi grumbled.

“Hey, Kakashi, you’ll do great.” Minato grinned. 

“Thanks, Sensei,” Kakashi sighed.

***

Two years later, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were at Kannabi Bridge, in a fast-paced battle. Kakashi felt hands on his back as he was shoved away. By the time he turned around, his teammate was under a boulder.

“Obito!” he screamed, trying to use bending to lift the ginormous boulder- it was impossible. He couldn’t break it, couldn’t get it off of his teammate, couldn’t help. It hurt so much to watch. He fell to his knees by his teammate.

“Kakashi… take my eye.” Obito’s words were soft but Kakashi still heard them.

The next few days were a blur of grief and pain. Rin performed the transplant, there were bloody battles on their way back, and by the time they walked back into the village, Kakashi felt as though he would pass out. He wanted more than anything to take a shower and fall asleep- maybe talk to Kyoshi about what had happened, but during the past few months, she hadn’t been up front in his mind. He hadn’t been able to contact her except through intense meditation and focus. 

“Kakashi, was the mission a success?” Minato’s eyes bore into Kakashi’s as he met him and Rin in the village.

“Yes, sir.” Kakashi couldn’t keep eye contact- it all hurt so much.

“Where’s Obito?”

“Gone,” Rin whispered. “He was crushed under a boulder. We couldn’t save him but he… gave Kakashi his eye.”

“I understand.” Minato sighed. “Well, you might as well give your mission report.”

“Okay.” Kakashi and Rin made their way to the Hokage’s office, heads bowed down low. 

***

“I can’t imagine how much you’re hurting right now.” Kyoshi’s voice echoed in the back of Kakashi’s mind as he walked into his home.

“Hm,” he muttered, startled when he saw the woman in the corner of his kitchen.

“I know you’re not ready yet, but Aang will be awoken soon,” Kyoshi said. “Within the next month. I can sense it. You’ll have to leave as soon as possible.”

“I- I’ll need a day,” Kakashi said, taking a shuddery breath. After a second, he was enveloped in warmth- Kyoshi’s arms wrapped around him and he couldn’t help the tears that began to flow. He turned around, feeling her warm hand on his back.

“I’ll help you get there, day after tomorrow, alright? Talk to Minato about it.” Kyoshi rubbed Kakashi’s back.

“Obito- he’s gone.” Kakashi felt his legs give out, much like they had when he first saw Obito under the boulder.

“Kakashi…” Kyoshi’s voice was soft as she caught Kakashi before taking on a more casual- almost humorous tone. “You need a shower.”

“Yeah…” Kakashi slid out of Kyoshi’s arms and made his way to the bathroom on wobbly legs.

***

“Sensei!” Kakashi ran to his teacher, who was sitting by the newest grave in the graveyard.

“Kakashi!” Minato-sensei wiped tears away, planting a smile on his face.

“Sensei, I have to leave tomorrow.” Kakashi’s voice shook. “To the other world. Kyoshi says… she says Aang will wake up soon.”

“This soon?”

“Yes. Will you… will you come with me to speak to the Hokage?”

“Of course!” Minato stood, taking a deep breath. “Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir.” Kakashi cast his eyes down. 

“Kakashi, you shouldn’t have to go so soon after…”

“I know, sensei,” Kakashi said. “But I have to. And during the fight… after… I lost control again.”

“I understand,” Minato sighed. 

***

“Sensei! Kakashi!” Rin ran over to the pair as they walked through the village. “Where are you going?”

“To speak with the Hokage,” Minato said softly. “Kakashi has to leave tomorrow.”

“Leave… to the other world?” Rin asked. Kakashi nodded gravely. “How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know.”

The group approached Hokage Tower and climbed the stairs, knocking on the door.

“Come in.” 

“Lord Hokage.” Minato bowed. Kakashi followed suit before speaking.

“Tomorrow, I have to leave to get to the Land of Benders. It can’t wait.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“He won’t be able to go on missions anymore, sir,” Minato said. “And… he’ll need a place to meditate so that he can get there safely and have his body protected.”

“I see.” The Hokage nodded. “Follow me.” The Hokage stood. “There is a private office that should be safe.”

“Thank you, sir.” Minato bowed his head as the Hokage passed by, expecting the pair to follow. The office was a dark room- dusty, with lots of books and an old smell that Kakashi couldn’t quite place. It was perfect.

“Thank you,” Kakashi said. “I should be here early tomorrow morning.”

“I will lock the doors after you. One key will be inside with you, and the other will be with me.”

“Yes, sir.” Kakashi bowed his head. 

“Is that all?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Then you two may leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys like the cliffhanger :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit longer, but... uh... yeah :)   
> enjoy

Kakashi awoke the next morning, making himself a healthy breakfast. He knew he’d need it for that day. As he flipped an egg, he tried to imagine the Land of Benders. It filled him with an almost childlike giddiness that quickly dissipated when he brought his hand up to his eye, feeling the bandages that Rin had insisted he keep.

_ “Can’t you just heal the area around it?” _

_ “Too risky,” _ Rin had said.  _ “I don’t want to permanently blind you… or worse.” _

Kakashi remembered her ominous tone and picked at the bandages, feeling a dull pain as he tapped them, reminding him of Obito. They could use a change. He resolved to do that before he left, forcing the thoughts of the boulder out of his head.

After he finished eating, changed the bandages, and got his things together, he jumped out his window. The sky was still an inky black, but he figured it wasn’t too early.

“MY RIVAL!” A familiar voice came from across the street. He looked over and saw a familiar boy in green. “Would you like a challenge?”

“No, Gai,” Kakashi grumbled. He knew that Gai wouldn’t take no for an answer, but he could always try.

“Where are you going at this early time?” The boy drew closer, tossing an arm around Kakashi’s shoulders.

“None of your business.”

“Oh, my Rival! You are so  _ cool _ and collected! Please let me challenge you!”

“Gai, I said  _ no.” _ Kakashi shrugged him off, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

“But-”

“Race you to the Hokage Tower!” Kakashi took off, leaving a sputtering and annoyed Gai in his wake.

“I’ll beat you, my Rival!” Gai yelled, speeding off to Kakashi. And he did. Kakashi’s hand hit the wall half a second after Gai’s. “That’s a point for me! My Rival, you have to move quicker!” 

“Yeah, yeah. Now go do your training or whatever,” Kakashi said, resting his hands behind his head and walking inside.

“Good morning, Kakashi,” Minato-sensei yawned. He was standing just outside the office, with Rin half-asleep by his side. “We knew you’d be here around now…”

“So we came to say goodbye,” Rin finished, standing up straight and rubbing at her eye in an attempt to wake up.

“Hm.” Kakashi nodded. “Bye.”

“Kakashi…” Kakashi felt Minato-sensei pull him into a loose and warm hug. “Good luck.”

“Yeah… thanks.” Kakashi slipped from his grasp and walked into the office, waving absently before disappearing into the dusty room.

“Are you ready?” Kyoshi’s voice echoed into Kakashi’s ear.

“Just a minute.” Kakashi’s voice shook as he looked around the room, finding the key on a desk in the corner of the room. He locked the door before walking back to the middle of the room.

“Goodbye, Kakashi.” Minato-sensei’s voice slipped through the door and Kakashi sensed him moving away with Rin. 

“Bye,” he whispered, sitting down.

“Now, close your eyes.” Kyoshi’s voice was smooth- almost like cool water taking in his mind. He took a deep breath before letting his eyes slip shut.

_ You’re safe, you’re here, you can do this, _ he reminded himself.

“Feel your spirit start disconnecting from your body.” Her voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. “Try to fall asleep…”

Kakashi felt himself slouch and his eyes relaxed. 

“Good…” Kakashi suddenly felt disconnected from his body. He tried his best not to open his eyes or move his body. There was no pain, no discomfort, just… nothing. “Clear your mind.” Kyoshi’s voice was the only thing in his mind. After a few seconds, he felt a hard ground under him and could smell clear air again.

“Open your eyes.” Kyoshi’s voice was soft- barely there, but Kakashi heard her. He opened his one uncovered eye slowly. He was in a lush forest; the smells and sounds of a village coming from the distance. He stood slowly, groaning slightly as he stretched his legs.

“Where am I?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Kyoshi’s voice faded away. “I can’t communicate with you as well as I could in your original dimension, but I will still be here.”

“Alright,” Kakashi said. One hand reached over his shoulder, to where the seals once were. They had been released, but their ghost still haunted him. He shuddered before making his way to the sound of voices. 

“I can’t be training so  _ pathetically  _ while the Avatar is still out there!” A voice echoed through the forest. Kakashi stiffened and silenced his movements.

“Zuko, calm down.” Kakashi caught a whiff of tea as the voice hit his ears.

“No! Uncle, when we find the Avatar, I won’t be able to capture him with just the basics!” 

_ Capture? _ Kakashi held his breath as he looked over to where the voices were coming from. There was a small campfire with an old man and teen sitting by it. Patrolling around were men in full red body armor.

“Zuko, calm down. The Avatar likely won’t want to attack back.” The old man grabbed a glass. “Why don’t you enjoy some tea with me?”

“Tea? Uncle, we have to find the Avatar and restore my honor!” Zuko waved his arm, putting the fire out. “We don’t have time for  _ tea!” _

“The Firelord isn’t going to find him first,” the old man sighed. “You need to take a break.”

Kakashi watched them and decided that they weren’t threatening- the soldiers around might be an issue, but Kakashi figured he could run if they attacked. He figured it would be smart to try to get close to them, though, since he had to find Aang; these people could likely get him closer.

“Are you also searching for the Avatar?” he asked, putting on a soft act. “My- my family and I were searching then-” he sniffed, hoping that a tear could help his case. Minato-sensei had convinced him to use his ‘little kid powers’ to get people on their side when he was younger. He had been called adorable more times than he could count. “They- we- were- we were attacked and- and-” he tried to come up with a lie, but was saved by the old man interrupting.

“You poor child. Come and drink some tea.” The old man offered Kakashi a cup. Kakashi smiled and took it, nursing the warm cup. “Now, tell us, who are you and what happened?”

“My… my name is Kakashi. I’ve been alone out here for a few days.” Good… get ‘em good and emotional, then use them to get closer to Aang… 

“Uncle, why are we talking to this kid? How would he get us closer to the Avatar?”

“The Avatar… I knew him when I was very young. So I should be able to point him out in a crowd and convince him to come with me,” Kakashi said softly. “Then you can… you can snatch him up!” He hated using the childish terms but it’d add to the ‘helpless little kid’ act.

“So you could be useful?” Zuko asked.

“Yes.” Kakashi smiled slightly, pulling his mask down just enough to sip the tea but still hide from the others.

“Do you bend?” the old man asked.

“Only fire,” Kakashi said.  _ Damn, of course there’s only one element, idiot, _ he thought. Luckily, Iroh didn’t even notice the strange word choice.

“So you’re from the Fire Nation? And you’re willing to work with us?” 

“No. I’m not from the Fire Nation. I’m just a… rogue bender.” Kakashi hoped that made sense. “My dad was an Earth bender and my mother was a Fire bender.”

“Hm.” The old man looked him over. “He should come with us, Zuko!”

“Fine,” Zuko huffed. “He can stay in the extra quarters.”

“Really?” Kakashi hoped that his one visible eye shone with excitement. 

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get going.” He stood up and walked off towards the ship.

“Are you worried about your parents?” the old man asked Kakashi.

“Yeah.” Kakashi cast his eyes down, hoping that it would give the illusion of emotion.

“Could they be alive?” the old man rested a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder, and Kakashi resisted the urge to stab him. Minato-sensei would probably look down on stabbing someone.

“No.” The bitterness in Kakashi’s voice was real this time. “No, they’re… long gone.”

“Poor child.” The old man shook his head, sighing. He reminded Kakashi of the Third Hokage in a way. Acts like he cares but probably doesn’t. Old. Smells like smoke.

“I’ll be fine.” Kakashi sighed and followed the man on the ship. “Oh, I still don’t have your name.”

“Iroh.”

“Iroh.” Kakashi nodded. “Iroh, sir, could you… maybe train me? In fire bending?” Kakashi figured he could always get better- he could also learn their fighting style in case he ever had to fight them.

“Of course!” he smiled. “You can train with my nephew!”

“Thank you, sir.”

***

“Uncle, why is this  _ child _ more advanced with me?” Zuko asked. “And he only has one eye he can use!”

“I have both eyes,” Kakashi retorted, creating a fire column a meter taller than Zuko’s. He probably shouldn’t have said that.

“Then what’s that bandage over your eye for?”

“Good question.” Kakashi began unravelling the bandage. It was dumb, but it got Zuko distracted. Kakashi knew he messed up, but he might as well scare them before killing them, right?

“What-” Zuko’s eyes widened as Kakashi pulled the bandages off and revealed a bright red and black eye for a split second before pulling the metal forehead protector over it.

“Was that-” Uncle Iroh’s eyes widened as Kakashi smirked, crossing his arms. “The famed Sharingan?”

“How did you-”

“How is that possible?” Uncle Iroh stepped closer to the kid, and he stepped back.

***

How did Iroh know about the Sharingan? 

“You- how could you possibly get that eye?” Iroh ran at him, attempting to pin him to the single railing separating them from the vast, gaping ocean- likely to get a better look. “I’ve only ever seen it in books…”

“Uncle, what is it?”

“He doesn’t even have the black hair of an Uchiha…” Iroh continued trying to get to him. “Tell me the truth! Is that the real Sharingan?”

“I’m just a fire bender!” Kakashi was sure to slip a certain amount of fear into his voice, trying to get his lie across. “I don’t even know what the Sharingan is!”

_ “Smart move.” _ Kyoshi’s voice held an annoyed- sarcastic, even- tone in the back of his head.

“Please! It’s- it’s a color contact my parents passed down to me! We- we color our eyes because it’s a- a family tradition!” 

“Uncle! He’s telling the truth!” Zuko ran to hold Iroh back. “Can’t you see how afraid he is? He’s just a kid!”

“Where did you get your headband from?”

“I found it!” Kakashi yelled, forcing tears to his eye. “Please, I just found it out in the forest and it covers the eye well enough that most people don’t ask questions!  _ Please, _ let me go!” He knew that Iroh would be wary around him forever, so he couldn’t afford to attack anyone- he realised that he didn’t know how to move the ship, so he’d need to keep them alive.

“Guards, keep watch over Kakashi,” Iroh said, slipping back into his calm demeanor.

“Yeah. If Uncle Iroh reacted so strongly, then we’ll need to keep a close eye on him.”

***

After the incident with the Sharingan, Kakashi mentally kicked himself- he had let his guard down far too much. He sat in the locked-down room he’d been guided to, picking at the blankets on the bed.

“Kakashi?” Iroh walked in, holding tea. “Up for a game of Pai Sho?”

“Huh?”

“Come with me.”

Kakashi followed the old man to another room, sitting across from him at a circular board. Iroh quickly explained the game before the pair began playing. Kakashi lost the first game, not even coming close to Iroh’s strategy.

“Why are  _ you  _ looking for the Avatar?” Iroh asked halfway into their second game. “You aren’t connected to the Fire Nation, so you don’t have much of a reason.”

“My parents never told me  _ why  _ we were searching,” Kakashi said, moving a piece. “Just that it was important.”

“Hm.” Iroh nodded and made his move. “Interesting.”

The next two weeks were a blur of firebending training and dancing around questions as the ship made its way into a freezing cold land. Kakashi felt a strange pull to it- he could sense the Avatar’s energy.

It was midnight. It was unbelievably dark outside, and Kakashi had the memory of the bright light fresh in his mind as he made a shadow clone and slipped out of his room. He silently walked to the edge of the ship, pushing chakra into his feet and looking down. There was a long drop into cold water, but if he was quick, he could get to the snowy land nearby. He took a deep breath and jumped, praying that the chakra in his feet was enough to keep him afloat. His feet hit the water and his chakra control slipped, dunking him under the freezing water before he climbed back to the surface. He swore softly before running to the snow. He climbed up the hill, getting far enough away from the ship that they wouldn’t find them. 

After half an hour of slowly walking- his whole body was starting to get numb- and trying to see through thickly falling snow, he found a small cave he could settle in. He found a few trees to gather enough sticks for a fire, setting it up in the cave. He used firebending to make a small flame and used the leftover sticks to hang his soaking wet clothes. The snow picked up and Kakashi warmed himself by the fire, watching the storm. He summoned Pakkun, not sure if it was for a companion or for real help.

“Yo.” The dog sat in the corner of the cave, watching Kakashi closely.

“Hey.” Kakashi patted the dog’s head.

“Do you have a plan? And why aren’t you wearing anything?”

“I fell in freezing water. And when the snow slows down, I’m gonna go find him.” Of course, Pakkun knew that ‘him’ was referring to the Avatar.

“You know where he is?”

“Vaguely.” Kakashi started checking his pouches around him, making sure all of his kunai and scrolls were still there.

By morning, the snow had slowed and Kakashi’s clothes had mostly dried by the flame. He put out the fire and covered the sticks with snow to put out the embers and hide the fact that he had been there. He pulled on his clothes, moving around slightly to remind himself that  _ yes, _ he was alive. He sighed and walked towards the pull of the Avatar.

“Kakashi, you’re sure he’s this way?” Pakkun had begun to fall behind, prey to the cold.

“One hundred percent.” Kakashi lifted the tiny dog up, holding him close to share body heat.

“Why don’t I just go?” Pakkun grumbled. “I mean, I’m not really of much use staying with you.”

“Because I like having you here and-”

Kakashi’s retort was cut off by an excited shout.

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” a girl’s voice laughed.

“You still are a kid!” a boy’s voice called, laughing along with her.

_ “That’s him!”  _ Kakashi whispered smugly. “Told you so.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now put me down and we can go find them,” Pakkun replied.

“Alright.” Kakashi let the small dog hop from his arms and began moving towards the voices. “There!” he pointed at where the pair of teens were staring up at a giant ship beached in the snow.

“We shouldn’t go up there, Aang!” the girl said. Aang replied with something that Kakashi’s ears couldn’t quite catch.

“You’re right,” Kakashi said, walking over to them. “There are probably traps up on that ship.”

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

“Kakashi.” Kakashi reached out to shake her hand.

“And I’m Katara.” the girl- Katara- looked at him suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“Wandering around,” Kakashi said nonchalantly. 

“So you wandered over here?”

“You ask too many questions. Don’t go up there.” Kakashi crossed his arms.

“You have to let go of fear if you really wanna be a good bender.” Aang started climbing up the ship.

“I’m not a bender. And it’s not fear; it’s common sense.” Kakashi followed him and Katara. “I won’t stop you, but if you get trapped, I’ll be forced to get your dumbasses out.”

  
  


“I told you there were traps,” Kakashi said as Aang and Katara ran down the hill, having just escaped.

“How did you know?” Katara asked. “Are you working with the fire nation?”

“No, just a rogue… nonbender with common sense.”

“A rogue nonbender?” Katara asked.

“Mhm.” Kakashi walked with the pair. “Now, let’s get back to your home.”

“Nope. You are  _ not  _ coming back with us to the tribe,” Katara said, crossing her arms.

“What if it’s in danger? After you two set off that flare, Fire Nation scouts could come and attack. A village in the snow wouldn’t last long under fire. I’d be able to help defend you.”

“Fine,” Katara grumbled. “But… what would you do?”

“I’m a good fighter.”

“What if your little dog gets hurt, too?” Aang asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Pakkun said.

“You  _ talk?” _ Katara shrieked, jumping back.

“Yeah, and?” Pakkun sniffed her ankle and she stepped away from him, looking nervous.

“He won’t hurt you unless I tell him to,” Kakashi said. 

“Alright,” Katara said, nodding slowly. “Anyway, we’re almost back.”

“Yep!” Aang grinned. “I can’t wait for you to meet-” he cut off as he saw the angry look on an old woman’s face.

“You set off a flare.”

“Grandmother-”

“And brought back another stranger!”

“Kakashi’s not a stranger!” Aang said suddenly.

“Oh?” The old woman- Katara’s grandmother- raised an eyebrow.

“I feel a strange connection to him. I can’t explain it… but… I just feel like he could help us.”

“Well, you still could have alerted the fire nation to our presence,” the old woman said. “And for that, I must banish you both from the tribe.”

“Grandmother! They’re both kids! We can’t send them out alone!”

“We’ll be together. Kakashi and I know how to survive,” Pakkun spoke up.

“Pakkun’s right,” Kakashi said. “We’ll get going on our own, then.” 

***

“Is that… a Fire Nation ship?” Aang sat up from his spot, looking out into the distance.

“It looks like it.”

“We have to do something!” Aang jumped down and began running.

“Not happening.” Kakashi grabbed him by the arm.

“Why?”

“Because they’re powerful.”

“I thought you were going to defend them!” Aang yelled.

_ Obito’s voice echoed through Kakashi’s head; “Those who would ever abandon their friends are scum!”  _

“Fine.” Kakashi sighed and the pair made their way to the small tribe.

“The Avatar… is just a  _ kid?” _ Zuko yelled as Kakashi and Aang got to the scene. “And Kakashi… how did you get here?”

“I jumped,” Kakashi said, pulling out a kunai. “And now I’ve found the Avatar, and you don’t matter to me anymore.”

“Oh?” Zuko ran at him and Kakashi dodged. “I refuse to be beaten by two  _ kids!” _

“You know, you are still a teenager,” Aang said, not realizing that he was provoking Zuko further.

“You-” Zuko and one of the guards ran at Aang at full speed, and Kakashi leapt in front of him, kicking Zuko away and using simple taijutsu to evade their attacks.

“What are you doing?” Aang asked as Kakashi spun around, a sharp knife in his hand.

“Taking them out!” Kakashi yelled.

***

_ Taking them out. _

“You mean… killing them?” Aang asked. But by the time he had finished speaking, three Fire Nation guards were on the ground, bleeding and burned by their own flames.

“Kakashi, calm down!” Katara yelled as the teen with the scar on his face grabbed Kakashi from behind, knocking him out.

“Hey! If I go with you, will you stop attacking these innocent people?” Aang asked the firebenders.

***

Katara watched as the people from the Fire Nation took Aang and Kakashi away. Aang shot one last reassuring smile back, while Kakashi was being dragged along, unconscious.

“Aang…” she whispered. Hopefully, he would be okay.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit longer :))

“Do you really believe that a bison can fly?” Pakkun was laying down by Katara, who was petting him. He’d already taken a liking to this girl. “It’s not aerodynamic or-”

“Yip yip?” Sokka finished listing off possible terms to get Appa to fly. Appa lifted out of the water, making a strange roaring sound as he soared.

“Wow.” Pakkun watched as the ground got farther and farther away.

“We’re flying!” Sokka yelled excitedly. “We’re really flying!”

“Yep.” Katara smirked at him.

“I mean… we’re flying. Whoop-dee-doo. Whatever.” Sokka slumped back down onto the bison’s back. “I knew it was gonna happen, of course.”

“How do you two plan on helping Aang and Kakashi?” Pakkun asked. “I mean, I’m not a fighting type dog, as you can see, Sokka’s not exactly a fighter-”

“I am a warrior! I’m the strongest-”

“Be quiet and let me finish.”

“I can’t believe we’re being bossed around by a dog,” Sokka grumbled.

“Kakashi is strong enough to fight them off, but Aang doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would want to fight.”

“How is that kid with white hair and a dumb mask stronger than me?” Sokka asked.

“He’s on his way to becoming a jonin. After seeing your… fighting skills, if you could call it that, I can say that you’re below genin levels.”

“I have no idea what that means, but if you say it again, I swear, I’m gonna throw you off of here!” Sokka leaned in until his face was practically touching Pakkun’s.

“Yeah, yeah.” Pakkun settled back down, resting his face on his front paws.

***

“Get him!” Kakashi awoke to yells and could hear Aang taunting the guards. He groaned as he stood- his entire body was sore and he was exhausted from the fighting and being dragged around like a ragdoll.

He picked the lock and left the room, just in time to see Aang flying in some kind of water tornado to get onto the boat- he was impressed. He made a mental note to try and learn that move. Katara and a teen with a strange boomerang arrived, and Katara used waterbending to freeze the men in ice. She almost looked surprised at her own moves. She helped Aang onto the strange bison-creature’s back and Kakashi jumped up beside them, sitting by Katara and the teen as the flying bison lifted up and flew away.

“Hey you- you’re the kid who killed those guys!” the teen said. “This dog says you’re stronger than me.”

“I’m Kakashi and  _ this dog  _ is named Pakkun, who are you?”

“Sokka. Katara’s my sister and thought it would be a  _ great idea  _ to drag me to come get Aang off of a fire nation boat.”

“You didn’t have to come, you know,” Katara said. 

“I know, but you’re my sister. I had to make sure you didn’t do anything dumb.” 

“Why did you come get us?” Kakashi knew. He wished he’d done the same with Obito… He pushed the thought out of his head and listened to Sokka’s words.

“Katara, remind me why we thought it was a good idea to save a rogue kid?”

“Actually…” Aang started. “I don’t think he’s any normal kid.”

“No duh,” Sokka said. “He beat up those fire nation scouts like they were nothing!”

“No!” Aang said. “I can feel his spirit and it’s… different from anything I’ve felt before.”

“Interesting.” Kakashi nodded.

“Do you know why?” Aang asked. “I can’t quite place it.”

“Nope.” Kakashi shook his head.

“It’s weird…” Aang leaned back, clearly deep in thought.

After a while, someone had pulled out a map and Aang was telling everyone where they had to go. The first of the destinations was the Southern Air Temple.

“That will be a safe place to meditate, correct?” Kakashi asked.

“Yeah.” Aang smiled wistfully. “Wait- if it’s really been a hundred years… I haven’t cleaned my room in a hundred years! I’m definitely not looking forward to that!” He laughed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kakashi said. The way Aang had almost immediately regained his childlike energy reminded him of a specific Uchiha that was still plaguing his thoughts. He took a deep breath. 

“Anyway, there’s a specific area in the temple that’s great for meditation!” Aang said excitedly. “Monk Gyatso and I would always sit there. Aw, man, I can’t wait to see him!”

***

“It’s been two days,” Minato sighed. “That’s twenty days in that place.”

“He’s way too young to have this kind of pressure,” Kushina looked miserable. “What if he’s still searching? What if he hasn’t seen anyone in twenty days? What if he’s out starving in some forest?”

The Hokage looked deep into her eyes. “We must have faith in Kakashi.”

“I just hope-” Minato jumped, startled, as somebody knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Lord Third called.

“Mission: Locate the Avatar is a success.” Kakashi knelt down, pulling a bald boy along with him.

“Kakashi!” Kushina immediately swooped down to hug him. Kakashi sighed but let her, smiling up at her and Minato.

“This is him?” Lord Third motioned to the boy. Minato felt infinitely grateful that Kakashi had gotten home safe.

“Sir, there is something I have to tell you.” The bald boy- the Avatar- stood up, a certain fire in his eyes.

***

“Continue.” The old man in white laced his fingers together.

“Kakashi is a murderer. He  _ killed  _ Fire Nation guards and nearly killed someone else- he was around sixteen years old!”

“Oh?” The blonde man raised an eyebrow.

“He killed  _ three _ people!”

“Kakashi?” The old man looked over to Kakashi, who didn’t shy away as Aang expected him to.

“They were after Aang and me.” Kakashi stared right back. “We would have been kidnapped-”

“We  _ were  _ kidnapped!” 

“-and maybe even killed if I hadn’t taken their lives. I do apologize that I wasn’t able to study the bodies, but I was knocked out before that could happen. They have been at war for a hundred years, so it was a sensible decision, even if Aang doesn’t agree.”

“Kakashi, tell us the full story. And Aang, please step out of the room,” the old man said. Aang sighed and walked out, pressing an ear to the door. “We need to know everything.”

***

“Soon after I arrived, I found the Fire Nation scouts searching for the Avatar. I was under the cover of a rogue firebender whose parents had recently died. I used their ship- spending two weeks with them- to get near the Southern Water Tribe, where Aang had awoken.” Kakashi paused, careful to speak softly so that Aang didn’t hear. “I then snuck off the ship and spent a night in a cave. I summoned Pakkun and he spends most of his time with us now. We recently arrived at an Air Temple, where Aang spent much of his early life.”

“Aang, you may come back in now,” the Hokage called.

“Aren’t you worried about the fact that he took lives?” Aang asked. “I didn’t hear you berating him or- or anything.”

“No.” The old man shook his head. “If it was necessary, then I fully understand his reasoning. Besides, you are at war, yes?”

“Well… yeah, but murder is still wrong!”

“Hm. Well, you two should get back.” The Hokage nodded and Minato began leading the pair out.

“Wait… is this the Land of Chakra?” Aang asked as he and Kakashi left the office.

“Yes.” The blonde man nodded as they came to the room he and Kakashi had appeared in. 

“Then would that make him… also the Avatar?” Aang asked.

“Of course not,” Kakashi scoffed. “I’m just… connected to the spirits enough to travel.”

“Kakashi, you can go in. Aang, stay out here a sec,” Minato said as they approached the private office they had arrived in.

“Huh?” Aang stood by the door, holding his glider protectively.

Minato knelt down to his height. “I know Kakashi seems mean but… he’s been through a lot. Take it easy on him. For me. I believe in both of you.”

“Okay! Thank you.” Aang nodded and turned to go into the room.

***

“So the brat we found just  _ wandering around _ just happens to be able to travel dimensions,” Sokka said, disbelieving. 

“He was searching for me,” Aang said, looking over to where Kakashi was observing a statue of a monk. “Anyway, there’s a lot more to do here. Like play airball! And see the sky bison!”

“Aang… I don’t know if-” Katara started.

“Well, then, let’s go.” Kakashi turned back to the group. “I could argue that we don’t have time to play a game, though.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just been a hundred years since I’ve played and I want to see if I still have my skills.” Aang stretched. “Well, c’mon!” he laughed, jumping down a hill. Kakashi followed him to a strange field of logs coming out of the ground. “We can play a team game! Sokka’s on Kakashi’s team, Katara’s with me!”

“I dunno if that’s a good idea, Aang,” Katara said. “We’re not airbenders!”

“I can’t airbend either,” Kakashi said, standing on a pillar.

“Alright, then, it’s just me versus you, Kakashi!” Aang explained the rules and the pair began.

***

Katara found a Fire Nation helmet. Sokka knelt by her, followed by the little dog, who sniffed the helmet.

“It’s been here for weeks… possibly months or years,” Pakkun said.

“Aang would be devastated,” Katara whispered. 

“We can’t shelter him forever!” Sokka argued.

“What’re you two talking about?” Kakashi made a sign with his hands and an exact copy of himself appeared, taking his place. “Why would Aang be devastated?” He knelt down, seeing the helmet. “Oh. Hey, Aang!” He turned, calling the Avatar.

“What’re you doing?” Katara asked.

“Look at this.” Kakashi pointed to the helmet, and with Katara and Sokka’s disbelieving expressions and Aang’s one of pain, added onto his statement. “I found it on the Fire Nation ship and think it would be fitting to bury it here.” Sokka and Katara looked relieved but Aang just looked confused.

“Why?”

“Because the Fire Nation clearly came here and destroyed the place, so we can just bury it here. It’s fitting, isn’t it?”

“Kakashi!” Katara berated. The dog let out a noise almost like a laugh.

“You really think they were here?” Aang asked.

“Why else would everyone have left?” Kakashi asked. He walked over to the wall, swiping a spot with his finger. “See this?” he showed Aang his hand. “Scorch marks. It has to have been firebenders.”

“I- I won’t believe it.” Aang crossed his arms.

“Okay.” Kakashi shrugged. “That doesn’t matter, then. What else did you want to do?”

“This way!” Aang began walking. “Monk Gyatso told me about a room I have to be ready to open.”

“Well, are you ready?” Kakashi asked.

“I can only hope so,” Aang sighed.

***

As the team approached a giant door, Aang looked up.

“That’s huge,” Sokka whistled.

“Yep. Now, lemme try…” Aang made a smooth motion and sent air flying through the strange tubes in the door. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a dark room full of statues.

“This is Avatar Roku,” Aang said, standing by a tall statue.

“How do you know?” Katara asked.

“I- I don’t know. I guess I just… do.” Aang shrugged. 

“This is Kyoshi.” Kakashi stood near the even taller statue beside Roku.

“How do  _ you _ know?” Sokka asked.

“I’ve seen images,” Kakashi said with a shrug.

“Images?” Katara raised an eyebrow.

“Pictures.” Kakashi looked up at the statue.

“She’s kinda scary.” Katara’s eyes drifted up to the statue’s face before Sokka pulled her behind a statue.

“I heard something. There are probably Fire Nation-”

Kakashi pressed a hand to his mouth. “Don’t get us discovered,” he whispered.

Sokka watched as Kakashi pulled out a strange-looking knife and seemed to disappear as a shadow came into the room. When he looked back, he saw a little creature.

“Aw, look! A friend!” Aang said.

“Lunch!” Sokka ran at it, ignoring Kakashi’s scoff.

“Hey, don’t listen to him!” Aang ran after the little animal all around the temple; up walls, down hills, all over. When he came to a stop in a field, he suddenly froze and fell to his knees.

“Aang?” Katara walked towards him before the arrow on his head turned white. Kakashi watched as he bowed his head, shaking. A strange forcefield-type wave of air came from Aang.

“What’s going on?” Sokka screamed. 

“Something to do with that corpse,” Kakashi said, pointing to a body on the ground. “Might be an emotional reaction.

“Oh, no…” Katara tried to get to him, putting her hands up against the air.

***

Aang looked at Gyatso’s body as he came down from the Avatar State. Katara caught him before he fell and he could feel the presence of Sokka and Kakashi by him.

“You can’t let your emotions get ahead of you,” Kakashi said.

“Kakashi, do you have any idea how much he’s hurting right now?” Katara asked as she held Aang, who was shaking.

“He was… he was like my family,” Aang said softly.

“Sh. It’s okay. We’re your family now,” Katara whispered.

“Yeah.” Sokka placed a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s dumb,” Kakashi scoffed. “You can’t just  _ become  _ someone’s family without marriage or anything.”

“Jeez, Kakashi, you have  _ no idea  _ what it’s like to lose someone so close to you!” Katara said. “At least have a bit of sympathy.”

“How do you know that?” Kakashi asked. “How do you-” he cut himself off, sighing. He couldn’t lose his cool.

“What?” Aang asked. “That… blonde man said something about you… going through a lot, so… can you tell us? Now that we’re all family?”

“No.” Kakashi shook his head. “Who… what was this man to you?” he gestured to the corpse.

“My… my teacher. But he was also my best friend, my father… everything.” Aang’s voice cracked at the end and everyone fell into a stifling silence. 

“Well, I guess we should get going, then, right?” Sokka asked. “Or do you want to bury him?”

“He wouldn’t want to be buried,” Aang sighed. “But seeing him makes it all so… real, you know?”

“I get it,” Katara responded, helping Aang stand. “When my mother died, the funeral broke me more than her actual death.”

“Mhm.” Kakashi nodded. He wasn’t about to tell them that actually seeing his father’s body was more painful than anything he’s ever experienced. He shuddered at the memory, looking away from his new teammates. 

***

“Well, now, we have to go ride the Elephant Koi!” Aang said excitedly, pulling out a map.

“Hm?” Kakashi watched as he grinned and stuck his finger on the map.

“You know, for fun!” Aang grinned. “Kakashi, I think you’d be good at it!”

“What’s the point?” 

“To have fun!” Aang grinned.

“Hm.” Kakashi leaned back on Appa. “What is it with you and  _ having fun?” _

***

“I’m worried about him,” Kushina sighed, picking at the dinner she and Minato had made. Rin was visiting her teacher that night and had purposefully brought up the topic of Kakashi.

“He’ll be fine.” Minato smiled warmly. “He’s a tough kid. He may not get along with the other people there, but I know he’ll be alright.”

“Yeah… but did you see how disheartened he looked when the other boy- Aang- was getting mad at him?” Kushina stared into Minato’s eyes. “He really cares what he thinks- I think he was looking forward to a new start but didn’t realize how different it would be.”

“You saw him?” Rin’s eyes widened. 

“Yeah, he came back to give a mission report. According to him, he was on a ship with the very people looking to capture him for two weeks.” Kushina smiled. “Kakashi may be a bit of an ass sometimes, but you gotta give it to him, he’s smart.”

“Yeah.” Rin smiled. “He is.”

***

As the team landed on an island, they moved into a clearing. Kakashi heard others walking around but chose not to mention anything. He could take them. And if not, then Aang was the Avatar and could help. The people got closer and Kakashi concealed a kunai, jumping out of the way as they attacked. He hid behind a tree as they tied his teammates to a pole.

“Hey! Show yourselves!” Sokka yelled. “We won’t be taken in!” He started kicking around and the girls that had attacked moved forward and removed the blindfolds. “Where are the men that attacked us?” Sokka asked.

“We captured you, silly. There were no men.” The girl in the front smiled. Kakashi jumped to the top of the pole his teammates were tied to.

“You know, such flashy outfits and makeup aren’t exactly ideal for the woods.” Kakashi sat comfortably. “And If you can get rid of your enemy’s senses, it’s best to debilitate them as much as possible. But it’s too late now, I guess.” He tossed a kunai right at the girl’s feet. “Untie them or I’ll do it myself and personally make sure none of you survive.”

“Prove it!” the girl said. “Come down here and fight me yourself!”

“Hey! We’re with the Avatar! Who even are you?” Sokka yelled. “And I really don’t want to watch Kakashi kill more people. Please don’t fight!”

“The Avatar?” the girl almost immediately cut their bonds. “We’re sorry. We had no idea you’re friends with the Avatar!” Her eyes rested on Aang, who grinned.

“It’s alright! Hey, you must be the Kyoshi Warriors!”

“That’s correct.” The girl smiled while Kakashi immediately went on edge. These were the people Sensei had talked about- the powerful women that had come to the village long ago. “My name is Suki. You are all welcome here.”

“Thank you.” Aang smiled and bowed slightly. Kakashi just nodded and hopped down from the tall pole.

“Kakashi!” Katara cried out as he hit the ground. “Are you alright?”

“It wasn’t even that high,” he scoffed. “I’m fine.”

“You can’t just jump down from high places like that!”

“I’ll be fine.” Kakashi crossed his arms and followed everyone. He couldn’t help but notice the strange looks Suki was giving him. “What is it?”

“Who are you?” 

“Hatake Kakashi.”

“Hatake?” Suki whispered. “With the white hair and headband… would you happen to be related to Hatake Sakumo?”

“Hm.” Kakashi looked away.

“Hey, you didn’t give me an answer!”

“I am.” Kakashi bit the words out as though they stung his mouth.

“Really? Well, legend has it, he was an honorary Kyoshi Warrior and was close with Avatar Kyoshi! He even helped develop some of our techniques! I have some old paintings of him beside her. But, of course, he’s from  _ the other  _ dimension, so he should still be alive, right? It’s only been… not that long there, right? Less than thirty years, right? How are you two related, anyway?”

“He was my father.” Kakashi sped up, walking beside Aang. Suki seemed to take the hint and shut up. But Kakashi knew that he would get more questions later. At least he had time to prepare. As they approached a village, Suki started explaining where everyone could go. Kakashi tuned her out, lost in his thoughts. He aimlessly followed Katara, who first went to a market before going to a home where they could stay. Aang played around outside like a little kid while Sokka moped in the corner of the room.

“I can’t believe we were beaten up by a bunch of girls!”

“One of the scariest people I know is a woman.” Kakashi smiled. “Two of them, actually.”

“Who?” Sokka asked. “And just because a woman is scary doesn’t mean she’s strong.”

“Well, Kushina is my Sensei’s girlfriend and is a fantastic shinobi. She is known around the village as the Red Hot Habanero because of her red hair and temper.” Kakashi laughed softly. “And then there’s Tsunade. I’ve only met her twice, but she’s a fantastic medical nin… and she’s strong enough to punch through solid rock. You can’t put people down for their gender, Sokka. My own teammate is also a girl.”

“Ooh, do you like her?” Sokka asked teasingly. “There must be a reason you’re sticking up for her, right?”

“She’s nice.” Kakashi crossed his arms.

“What’s she like?” Katara asked.

“She’s… kind and a good healer. She performed surgery on my eye.” He pointed to his covered eye.

“But if you cover it, then it must have been a fluke,” Sokka said.

“No, it was successful. It’s just that this isn’t my eye, so it takes a lot of effort to use it.”

“What?” Sokka stood quickly. “You- that’s not your eye? You had an eye transplant? That’s a thing where you’re from? Whose eye is it?”

“It was a… parting gift.” Kakashi smirked. “I’m gonna go out and train for a bit.” He stood and waved.

“Woah, woah. You aren’t just going to tell us that you got an eyeball as a parting gift and not even tell us the story of it!” Sokka said, grabbing Kakashi by the arm.

“And your friend transplanted it! How old was she?” Katara asked.

“She was thirteen. Anyway, we were on a mission and my teammate told me to take his eye.” He smiled slightly.

“Wait, your teammate gave you his eye? That’s weird, Kakashi. I think you need new friends.” Sokka crossed his arms.

“It’s a Sharingan eye. He was an Uchiha, so giving me his eye was… quite an honor.” Kakashi turned and left. He couldn’t be seen showing emotion around them. Not yet, at least. He ran deep into the forest, leaping into a tree. How could he have been so stupid? To tell them about the village then about Obito… he had become too soft around them already. He sat against the tree trunk, watching the sunset and fighting back the memories and tears.

“Kakashi?” Aang’s voice echoed through the forest. “Kakashi, where are you? Katara said you told her and Sokka a story then just ran out. C’mon, where are you?”

“Dammit,” Kakashi whispered. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before jumping down from the tree. “Hello.”

“Jeez, Kakashi, where were you?”

“In a tree.”

“Why?” Aang gaped at him. “Well, let’s get back. It’s dark and there’s food back at the shelter.”

“Alright.” Kakashi followed Aang back to the house and studied the village. There were no night guards- they were really lax about security, huh? They had no night guards, and Kakashi hadn’t even seen anyone protecting the place during the day. He scanned each house- no boards on windows; some even had their windows open. 

“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!” Katara swooped down on Kakashi as soon as he and Aang walked in.

“I’m fine. I was just training in the woods. I’m going to have to start Aang on his chakra wielding training pretty soon.” Kakashi looked up at Aang, whose jaw dropped.

“Wait, I never heard about any of this!” Aang waved his hands. “I’m supposed to learn a fifth element?”

“It’s not another element.” Kakashi paused. “It’s a way of fighting; as the Avatar, it’s paramount for you to be as strong as possible.”

“Anyway,” Katara interrupted Aang as he opened his mouth to retort. “Aang, you have to stop playing around and don’t let being the Avatar get to your head. And Sokka, stop sulking and come eat. You’ve been complaining about being hungry since we left home.”

“I’m not sulking, I’m plotting to get back at them tomorrow!” Sokka argued, though he sat down at the table.

“They really weren’t that subtle.” Pakkun caught a small piece of meat that Kakashi tossed to him. “You should have been able to sense them.”

“Oh, yeah, because everyone has the sensitive hearing and nose you do.” Sokka crossed his arms.

“You know, they were pretty loud,” Kakashi said. “They didn’t exactly conceal their chakra signatures either.”

“Oh, yeah, because you can sense that.” 

“Yes, I can. And even if I couldn’t- I heard their footsteps. When ambushing, generally you also want to set up a trap beforehand or attack swiftly and silently.”

“Okay, Mr. Know-It-All,” Sokka huffed.

“You know, he’s probably right. We should also try to travel quieter.” Katara took some vegetables and started eating them. “It’s make us a lot safer.”

“Yeah.” Aang smiled. “Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to ride the Elephant Koi.”

***

Kakashi tailed Sokka, who made his way to the dojo with the Kyoshi Warriors. He was sure to conceal himself as he watched Sokka interact.

“Hey, ladies. How’s the dance class going?” 

“It’s not a dance class.” Suki stepped up to him. “We’re training to fight.”

“Yes, well, I’m a warrior, too, and I know fighting when I see it.” Sokka grinned. 

“Oh, well, why don’t you show me?” Suki stepped back, holding her two fans and smirking.

“Alright!” Sokka grabbed his boomerang and ran at Suki, almost immediately being pushed to the side. “That was practice! Just… a warm-up!”

“Oh, yeah?” Suki changed positions as Sokka ran at her again.

“Ow…” Sokka held his stomach where Suki had jabbed him. Kakashi couldn’t help but laugh, jumping down from the tree where he was sitting and walking in.

“Kakashi!” One of the girls grinned. “This is the son of Sakumo Hatake, the honorary Warrior.” The rest of the Kyoshi Warriors that hadn’t met Kakashi yet stared at him.

“Do you know how to fight?” Suki asked.

“Yes.”

“Would you like to show Sokka how it’s done?”

“Sure.” Kakashi smirked and got into a stance. “Just taijutsu?”

“You can use ninjutsu at this age?”

“Yep.”

“You really are Sakumo’s son.” Suki smiled and got her fans ready. Kakashi’s heart dropped and he pulled out a kunai. “Ready?” Kakashi nodded and Suki attacked, carefully moving around him. Kakashi dodged each attack, moving around her with the same speed and grace, careful to only use taijutsu, like when he sparred with Gai. The pair moved for a few minutes, landing a few punches, but Kakashi didn’t get anywhere until he swept a leg under Suki and she fell, allowing him to stand over her and hold the kunai to point at her throat.

“Hey, no knives!” Sokka stomped over to Kakashi, trying to take the kunai away. “That’s dangerous!”

“Well done,” Suki said. 

“Thanks.” Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets and left to go train.

“Hey you’re just gonna leave me here?” Sokka asked.

“Yeah, if you get hurt just call for me and I’ll come find you.” Kakashi waved nonchalantly and left.

“Hey! How old are you, even?” Sokka asked. “You’re acting like you’re above us all!”

“I’m ten years old.” Kakashi looked back at everyone’s dumbfounded expressions before walking off and jumping into a tree. He picked at branches and leaves. “Sakumo’s son,” he muttered darkly. “If only they knew.” He tossed a twig, watching it fall to the ground.

“Might as well go make sure Aang isn’t dying,” he sighed after a while. 

***

“Well I’m gonna go ride the Elephant Koi!” Aang yelled.

“Good for you!” Katara spat.

“It’s gonna be  _ really  _ dangerous!”

“I hope so!”

“And I’m gonna have lots of fun!” Aang stormed out, almost immediately greeted by Kakashi.

“Good to see you aren’t dying. We need to start your training.” Kakashi followed Aang out. 

“Stop following me. I wanna be alone.”

“We have to start your training sometime. Learning to wield chakra is very important. Besides, there’s a lot I need to teach you.”

“Can’t it wait?” Aang picked up the speed of his walking.

“No.” Kakashi matched his pace.

“Fine.” They came to a beach, where Aang kicked off his shoes.

“First, it’s important for you to know what chakra is.” Kakashi figured he’d give a condensed version of what students in the Academy learned.

“Okay.” Aang sat down in the sand, staring up at Kakashi.

“It’s a form of energy…” Kakashi began a short lesson- he explained chakra and its properties to Aang, who increasingly got more and more fidgety, seeming to want to go out onto the water like he had originally planned. The lesson was only an hour long, but it was enough for Kakashi to give Aang a basic rundown of what a shinobi was and what he would teach Aang. He sensed others around- a bunch of little girls who seemed to worship Aang. 

“What’re you talking about?” one asked.

“An ancient art only the Avatar and I can master,” Kakashi said. The girl’s eyes went wide.

“Okay, can I go now? It’s been a hundred years since I was here and I can’t wait to see the Elephant Koi!” Aang begged.

“Fine. Go.” Kakashi waved, watching Aang grin and run off, swimming into the water and latching onto a giant fish-looking creature’s back and laughing. The kids watched him.

“Hey, can you do that?” one asked Kakashi.

“Easily.” Kakashi watched as Aang rode on the back of the fish- he wanted to join, but he figured just watching would be safer for everyone.

***

“Is the makeup and everything necessary?” Sokka grumbled.

“Of course,” Suki said. 

“Where’d Kakashi go? Shouldn’t he be doing this too?”

“No,” Suki said, “he’s clearly strong enough, but he isn’t his father. I don’t think it’d be right for him to join. Besides, he clearly doesn’t want to.”

“That’s fair,” Sokka sighed. “And didn’t he say that he’s ten years old? No ten year old should be learning to fight like you guys.”

“Yeah, well, he’s a shinobi. Where he’s from, legend says that they start learning at age five. Many are forced to take lives in their teens.”

“Yeah… I’ve seen him kill before. It’s kinda scary. I mean… he’s nothing like Aang, who refuses to even eat meat. Apparently, that eye he covers is from his dead teammate.”

“What?”

“He didn’t go into detail, but he says that his friend’s dying wish was to give him a… Sharingan eye of his or something.”

“Aw, man. That’s messed up.” Suki looked out into the forest. 

“Yeah.”

***

As Aang clung onto the Elephant Koi, he called out to the girls watching. 

“Hey, watch this!” He did a backflip off of the fish and landed on another one. All of the girls cheered and whooped, but he could see Kakashi rolling his eyes. The boy walked away, seemingly to go train on his own. He was probably just jealous. Aang spent another minute out on the water before coming back, splashing all the little girls before putting the rest of his clothes back on. He didn’t even notice Katara standing there until she was just a few feet away. He waved sheepishly, smiling slightly.

“C’mon, let’s get back.” She grabbed him by the wrist and led him off, leaving the little girls in their wake.

“Aang, where are you going?” one of them asked.

“Wherever she takes me,” Aang said, shrugging.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Aang, but you have to stop letting all this go to your head,” Katara scolded when they got back.

“Yeah, you have to stop acting like an idiot.” Kakashi was in the corner of the room, patting Pakkun’s head with one hand and twirling one of his strange knives with the other.

“I’m not acting like an idiot!”

“You have to focus on the mission- if I ever lost focus like you do, I could lose my status as a shinobi.”

“He’s right,” Pakkun added, rolling onto his back for a belly rub.

“A- a shinobi?” Katara asked. “Dad told us stories about shinobi when we were kids, remember, Sokka? That they had super strength and speed and stuff?”

“Of course there were stories,” Kakashi sighed. “It’s not super strength or super speed, it’s just chakra, whose properties I have to teach Aang.”

“Yeah, he said they were scary. There was one about the… Sannin, right?” Sokka ignored Kakashi, grinning.

“One of them was my teacher’s teacher,” Kakashi said. “He’s also an author. Another hasn’t been seen in years, and the third is a gambling addict.”

“Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade,” Katara said. “According to the tale, Orochimaru is an intelligent man who searches for immortality and power and can use snakes. Jiraiya can use toads and… I heard he was a pervert. Tsunade uses… slugs, right? She’s also very physically strong and intelligent.”

“Correct.” Kakashi nodded. “Orochimaru is an S-class missing-nin. He’s also arguably one of the most intelligent people Konoha has produced. There are rumors of him performing experiments on people- kids younger than me, sometimes.” He paused, looking at their awestruck faces. 

“Pup, you’re being dramatic,” Pakkun sighed. Kakashi ignored him.

“Tsunade has the strength to break boulders with her bare hands, and all accounts describe her as a beautiful blonde woman with a deadly temper and likely a drink in hand. The last one- Jiraiya- has been described with hair similar to mine and a laid-back attitude. My own teacher- Minato-sensei- once told me that Jiraiya was almost killed by Tsunade for peeping in a womens’ bath house.” Kakashi paused as Sokka started to laugh.

“So Jiraiya was looking at women and… what happened?”

“Tsunade broke some of his bones and punched him across the village. Anyway, their teacher was the Third Hokage, who is still in power to this day.” Kakashi stood and stretched. “Well, it’s getting dark out. I’m off to bed.”

“Wait, tell us more!” Aang said. “I mean, I’ve never heard of these Sannin people, but they sound scary.”

“Hm.” Kakashi kept walking, finding his way to bed. “One of you guys can keep watch.”

“We don’t have to keep watch,” Sokka scoffed. “The ladies in their dance class will keep us safe, right, Katara?”

“Either way, it’s smart to have a lookout. Kakashi and I kept watch yesterday and the night before. One of you guys can take over tonight, hm?” Pakkun asked.

“I’ll do it,” Katara said. “I’ve been sleeping pretty well recently.”

“G’night.” Kakashi placed a multitude of weapons down beside him- strange knives, scrolls of some sort, and a few pouches that were certainly filled with more weird weapons. Katara figured she could go through them later. 

“Well, then, I’ll head home.” Pakkun shot Kakashi a look.

“No, you won’t. You’re the only one here with any sense,” Kakashi said. Pakkun made a noise that was as close to a sigh that a pug could make.

“Fine.” Pakkun laid down by Kakashi.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's so short!!! I couldn't quite get this to flow quite like I wanted to... next week's chapter will be much longer, I promise!!!!

First thing in the morning, Kakashi looked across the room to see Katara asleep with her head on her arms. The window was open, letting cold air in. He sighed and sat up, running a hand through his hair and being careful to not wake Pakkun. He stood and walked over to Katara, tapping her on the shoulder.

“You fell asleep.”

“I did?” Katara squinted at the light coming through the window, yawning and stretching her arms. “Well… I guess I did. But why’re you up so early? Aang and Sokka are still asleep.”

“Does it matter?” Kakashi asked. “You have to learn to not fall asleep. Any good shinobi can stay awake for at least two nights in a row and still work successfully.”

“Well, I’m not a shinobi,” Katara shot back.

“Hm.” Kakashi looked out the window. “You’re still travelling through dangerous lands-”

“Then shouldn’t we be getting as much sleep as possible?”

“You won’t be caring so much about your beauty sleep if we get ambushed in the middle of the night.”

“We won’t be ambushed,” Katara scoffed.

“We could be,” Kakashi shrugged. “You never know.”

***

“I’m gonna ride the Elephant Koi again today,” Aang said. “I might even try to ride the Unagi!”

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun.” Katara rolled her eyes. Kakashi sighed. She was still irritable from lack of sleep and her disagreements with Aang the day before.

“Bye!” Aang called, running out. Kakashi followed him- who knew what kind of idiodic mischief he could get into? “Are you gonna make me do more of that chakra training?” 

“No. Not today. Today, I’m just making sure you don’t get your dumbass killed by the water or anything in it.”

“You could have been nice about it,” Aang grumbled. 

“Hm.”

Kakashi watched as Aang stood on the back of the giant fish. Sokka had joined them outside a few minutes before and was trying to keep his eye on Aang.

“What’s that?” he asked. “That giant shadow behind Aang?”

“I don’t know, but if it becomes a threat, I’ll deal with it.”

“How do you plan on- AANG!” Sokka yelled. “AANG GET BACK HERE! THAT THING LOOKS HUNGRY!”

“WHAT?” Aang yelled. 

_ “LOOK BEHIND YOU!”  _ Sokka screamed. Aang looked back right as the giant creature dove for him. Kakashi jumped out and ran across the water, catching Aang as he jumped out of the way. He carried Aang until they were near the shore, dodging the creature’s attacks.

“Kakashi, look back!” Aang yelled. Kakashi wasn’t quick enough to dodge the bite, and he knew it.

“Hold on tight!” Kakashi grabbed onto the whisker of the creature and was pulled into the air. 

“What’re you thinking?” Aang asked, holding tightly to Kakashi.

“Just trust me!” Kakashi held on tight, grateful for his gloves to prevent friction burns. He cried out as they were thrown around- he was holding both his weight and Aang’s, and his arms felt like they were going to be torn off.

“What’s your plan?” Aang asked.

“I said  _ trust me,”  _ Kakashi said through gritted teeth. As the creature propelled him and Aang toward the shore, Kakashi let go, letting himself and Aang fly toward the shore. 

_ “That  _ was your plan?” Aang asked as he used airbending to create a safe landing pad for himself and Kakashi. “I’m glad it worked but that was insane.”

“Hm.” Kakashi’s arms burned and his shoulders hurt like all hell, but at least he and Aang were alive. The creature let out a strange scream or roaring sound, looking as though it wanted to get to the shore and attack. But it turned away and went back into the water.

“That was the Unagi,” Aang said. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it.”

“Are we just going to  _ not _ talk about how Kakashi walked on the water?” Sokka asked. “Like, was that waterbending? Airbending? Did you somehow use earthbending to get the ground to-”

“Chakra,” Kakashi offered as an explanation. “My chakra abilities allow me to walk on water.”

“So… no bending?” 

“I told you already. I can’t do any bending.” Kakashi stretched his arms, wincing as his shoulders practically screamed at him. “Aang, we have to really get to your chakra training soon.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s important.”

“Do your arms hurt?” Aang asked.

“A bit,” Kakashi said with a shrug, which hurt his shoulders more than he had anticipated. “I’ll be fine.”

As they got closer to the village, there were screams cutting through the woods. Kakashi heard fire crackling. He swore and split off from the others, running to find Katara and Pakkun. 

“There you are!” Aang called, running with Sokka up to Katara and Kakashi. Katara had Momo in her arms. “What’re we gonna do?”

“Run,” Kakashi said. “There’s nothing we can do here. Unless either of your waterbending is strong enough to put out all this fire? Or we can take out all of-”

“No killing!” Katara interrupted.

“We have no choice but to fight,” Aang said, holding his glider.

“Stop playing the hero and think rationally,” Kakashi sighed. “If we run, the fire nation will chase after us. Then, we’ll get them away from here.”

“But this village is burning!” Katara argued.

“You’re a waterbender, aren’t you?” Kakashi asked. “Figure it out. Now, where’s Appa? If this is going to work, we have to act like we’re trying to sneak away while actually being obvious about it.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” Sokka asked. 

“Sokka!” Suki ran up to him. “What’re you guys gonna do?”

“We’re not sure. But we won’t leave,” Sokka said, shooting Kakashi a look. “I promise.”

“So no killing, but no running. I could try and set up a simple genjutsu to get them to run away,” he offered. “All of you hide.”

“A genjutsu?” Katara asked.

“An illusion. I haven’t had proper training with them but it’s possible.” Kakashi pulled his headband up to reveal his Sharingan and turned, running toward the firebenders. He knew that he technically didn’t need it right then and there, but he’d have to learn to use it at some point, so why not start now?

“He’s insane,” Suki whispered. “Well, you heard him, for this to work we can’t be seen by the firebenders.”

Kakashi hid from the firebenders and took a deep breath, putting his hands together and focusing on Zuko.

“The Avatar is running!” Zuko cried after a few minutes, staring into the empty sky. “Everyone back on the ship!” he commanded. Kakashi almost let the genjutsu slip as he was startled by Zuko’s sudden shout. 

“C’mon…” he muttered, focusing his energy into it. 

“Hurry!” Zuko yelled. “We can’t lose them!”

Firebenders followed Zuko’s orders, running back to the ship and taking their places.

“He did it,” Sokka said. “That crazy little genius…”

Kakashi stumbled back to the group, his headband still pulled up. About ten steps away from them, he passed out, falling face-first in the dirt.

“Kakashi!” Katara yelled, kneeling down and lifting his upper body. “Are you okay?”

“Just… chakra exhaustion, I think,” Kakashi mumbled, his head falling back.

“Kakashi!” Katara picked up his head, holding him.

“He did it,” Suki said, sitting by him. “He’s out cold.”

“We have to put the fires out,” Katara said. “The entire village is burning.”

“I think we’ll be able to figure it out.” Suki smiled. “You guys should go before the firebenders figure out that all that was fake.”

“Okay,” Katara sighed.

“I’ll take him.” Sokka lifted Kakashi and followed Aang and Katara back to where Appa was standing.

“Where’s Pakkun?” Kakashi asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“He’s over here,” Suki said, carrying the dog up to Appa’s back. 

“Suki, I’ll miss you.” Sokka hopped down and hugged her. 

“Yeah.” Suki returned the hug, clearly surprised. “I’m glad we met, Sokka.” She pulled away, holding his hands. “Well, I hope I can see you again sometime.”

“Mhm.” Sokka smiled and climbed back onto Appa’s back, waving back at Suki as Appa lifted off.

“I wish we could help them,” Katara sighed, watching the village slowly fade away.

“You know, I think I know a way,” Aang said as they passed over the water. He opened his glider. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He hopped off of Appa’s back, gliding onto the Unagi’s head and getting it to spray water towards the village, effectively putting out all the fires. 

“Aang, you could have gotten killed!” Katara scolded.

“Nah,” Aang said. “I know  _ exactly  _ what I was doing.”

“Mhm.” Disbelief colored Katara’s words.

“It’s true!” Aang argued.

“What’re we doing now?” Kakashi asked.

“The city of Omashu,” Aang said. “That’s where my old friend Bumi lives.”

“You think he’s survived this long?” Pakkun asked. “You know, since it’s been a hundred years.”

“Pakkun!” Katara scolded. 

“What?” Pakkun asked, curling up beside Kakashi. “I’m just asking an innocent question.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES i know this isn't quite how it went in canon (at all) but does this story follow canon at all???? oh and btw i hope all of you know that i fully plan on this being a 100k word story (with a FULL explanation on all of my ideas for this once Korra's story comes about :))


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy!

As they came near the city of Omashu, the group disguised themselves. Kakashi scoffed as Aang used Appa’s hair to disguise himself.

“It’s never going to work.”

“Just believe in me, Kakashi!” Aang said. “Hey, you old whippersnappers!” He put on a voice and pointed at Katara and Sokka. 

“One gust of wind and it’s all gone. And anyone with a strong sense of smell or half a brain can tell that that’s animal hair, not human.”

“It’ll be good enough to get us through the gates!” Aang leaned over, adding a hunched back to his ‘old man’ character. The group walked up to the gates of the vast city.

“And who are you?” a guard raised an eyebrow. Kakashi tuned Aang out and studied the walls and what he could see of the inside as Aang berated him, seeming to scare him enough to get him to let them in.

***

Aang was an idiot. That was for sure. He got the group arrested. Kakashi had told them that messing around so much was foolish, but Aang had totally screwed up. Kakashi had escaped the scene with Pakkun before he’d been taken in, too, but the rest of the group was trapped. He figured he might as well go around to get some information- they were just being taken into custody, not killed, so he could leave them be for a little bit. Maybe let them think about their actions. He found a perch and looked out over the city.

Then he remembered. Remembered how he originally wanted to leave Rin. He swore before jumping down and looking around. He’d have to break them out. 

“How are we going to find them?” Pakkun asked.

“Remember when I could sense Aang’s energy?” Kakashi asked. “I’m going to try that again. See if I can still do it.”

“I’m not sure-”

“Let me focus.” Kakashi closed his eyes for a few seconds, sending his senses out. “This way.” 

“I can smell them,” Pakkun said softly, sniffing the ground. “This way.”

“I know.” Kakashi smiled and walked by the dog- at this point, he could also smell them. But he couldn’t get much closer- there were two more guards at the door. And he wasn’t about to cause attention to be drawn to him by starting a fight..

“Hello, kid, what are you doing?” One of the guards leaned down to him.

“I’m here to talk to somebody inside.” Kakashi hoped he was right in assuming that the place was a prison. 

“You have an appointment with the king?”

“Y- yes.” King? What would the king be doing inside of a prison? Kakashi hoped his eyes looked hopeful enough as he looked up at the guard.

“Hm. I’ll escort you in, but your little dog has to stay out here.”

“Everywhere I go, Pakkun goes,” Kakashi insisted. “He… guides me.”

“Guides you, huh? Is he trained?”

“Very well trained, sir.” Kakashi nodded. This guy was starting to annoy him.

“Alright, then. Carry him. The king won’t be happy if we get paw prints anywhere.” The guard turned away to lead Kakashi in and Pakkun grudgingly let Kakashi pick him up. “What are you here to address with the king?”

“Just… stuff.”

“Like what?”

“He… kidnapped my friends.” Kakashi figured it was close enough to the truth. “And he’s holding them now. I’m hoping to convince him to let them go.”

“He’s only holding three prisoners in total,” the guard said. “And they were all rightfully persecuted and arrested.”

“Oh…” Kakashi paused. “Who are they?”

“A boy in a strange outfit and two watertribe kids.”

“That’s them!” Kakashi blurted. 

“Then there’s no way you’re getting them back just yet.” The guard frowned. “But you may still speak with the king, I suppose.”

“Thank you.” Kakashi bowed slightly as the guard turned back around to lead him off.

***

“We’ve found the last one.” The guard walked up to an old man in a lavish green coat.

“You were travelling with the Avatar, yes?” the old man asked, leaning towards Kakashi. Kakashi flinched as the guard pulled his hands behind his back. Kakashi stayed silent, trying to get in control of the conversation. “What’s your name?”

“Kakashi.” Kakashi kept his eyes level with the old man’s- he knew that he could beat both people without a problem.

“Kakashi, eh? The girl mentioned you during dinner. She thinks you’re quite an interesting character.” The old man laughed. “Well, I guess I can’t throw you in the same cell as them, then! Guards, throw him in the bad cell!”

“The bad cell?” The guard’s eyes widened and his grip on Kakashi loosened with shock. Kakashi took his chance. He slipped his hands from the guard and made a run for it, but was cut off when the guard used bending to shut the door. Kakashi tried to use his own earthbending to go against it, but it was no use. He’d just have to fight them.

“Get him!” The king used his own bending to capture Kakashi’s foot. Kakashi was caught for just enough time for the guards to close in on him and hold him down. He tried to squirm out of their grip but it was futile. He was trapped. He sighed and let the guards take him to a cell, letting Pakkun follow him in. He sat down on the bed to study the room.

“Well that was a bust.” Pakkun jumped up next to him.

“Yeah…” Kakashi rested a hand on the small dog’s back.

“What’s on your mind? I can tell it’s about more than just getting trapped.”

“Nothing, really.” Kakashi shrugged. He stood and walked to the corner of the room. “Aang’s energy is strongest coming from this corner. I… I wonder if I could-”

“No busting through walls. That’d attract too much attention. Seriously, Kakashi, you aren’t thinking straight. If you’re gonna make me stay with you, you have to tell me what’s going on.” Pakkun stood and walked over to Kakashi, sitting by his feet.

“That’s no fair,” Kakashi grumbled, still staring at the wall.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Fine.” Kakashi sighed. “I feel like I  _ have  _ to save them for some reason. Like I care about them. And I don’t… I don’t think I like it.”

“Hm.” 

“That’s all you’re going to offer?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked down at the dog.

“Yeah. You didn’t ask for advice, so I’m not giving it.” Pakkun walked back to the bed. “And now I’m going to take a nap. I need it.” 

“Have a good nap.” Kakashi looked up at the vent about three meters up. With the placement, it would make sense for it to go directly to where Aang was, but his common sense told him that that was impossible. But he was desperate, so he walked up the wall and opened it, pressing his ear into the vent. He could hear distant voices. He tried to listen in, but all he could make out were the general voices. But he could tell who it was.

“Aang!” he yelled into the vent. “Hello, Aang! I’m here! Katara? Sokka?”

“Kakashi?” Aang’s voice sounded hopeful and excited. “What’re you doing here?”

“Trying to get to you!” Kakashi called. He felt giddy- he had figured out how to get to his team again. “Pakkun, get over here! I think you could fit in here-”

“Not happening.”

“Momo can!” Aang called. “But don’t send Pakkun! We don’t know what’s in these vents!”

“Okay!” Kakashi called. “I’ll get us out, I promise.”

“Well, we’re going to bed now!” Aang called.

“Mhm.” Kakashi jumped down and laid down on the bed.

“You feel better now that you know where they are?” Pakkun asked, dodging Kakashi as he fell back.

“Yeah.” Kakashi smiled as Pakkun moved and leaned on Kakashi.

“Well, if they’re going to sleep, you might as well, too, hm?” the dog asked.

“I guess.” Kakashi moved his hands behind his head, closing his eyes against the bright lights of the room. He rolled onto his side and tried to fall asleep- he didn’t think it would be possible, but resting his eyes would help him be at top performance for the escape.

***

“Good morning guys!” Aang smiled and sat up. “Guys? Katara? Sokka? Where are you?” He looked around the room, unable to find them. “Kakashi, you there?” He jumped up to the vent and called in. “I can’t find Katara and Aang! Kakashi? Kakashi, please answer me!”

There was no response. 

“WAKE UP!” he yelled into the vent. He waited for an answer and groaned as none came. 

“Hello, Aang.” a guard walked into the room.

“Where are my friends?” he demanded.

“You’ll find out soon.” he turned. “Follow me!”

***

Kakashi had been knocked out and taken away in the middle of the night. He didn’t know what had happened, but he vaguely remembered earthbenders running in and the ground swallowing him whole. 

“Where’s my team?” he asked when he awoke, chained to the top of a tall cave. His hands were cuffed above his head and his feet were chained below him. Beside him, there was a roaring waterfall with a strange object hanging in the middle. It looked like a key. 

“They’re all right here.” The king grinned and gestured to Katara and Sokka, who had strange things on their hands. Aang stared up at him from the side. 

“Kakashi!” he called. “I’ll get you out!” He turned to the king. “Why is he all tied up?”

“We thought that he’d be a little more likely to try and escape!” The king grinned. “So we tied him up! He’s not getting out now! And, it’s some motivation for you.”

“Kakashi!” Katara yelled. “We’ll get you out! Once-”

“Be quiet!” Kakashi yelled back. “Stop wasting time!”

“Very good.” The king walked up to Aang. “My first challenge for you is to get they key to my lunchbox back. I’m awfully hungry and can’t get to it myself; I’m just so old and frail.”

“Fine.” Aang jumped down from the landing he was on and tried to get to the key- he was thrown back down. At the mention of lunch, Kakashi’s stomach reminded him that he hadn’t been eating nearly enough. He groaned softly and struggled against his chains. “Kakashi!” Aang momentarily abandoned his quest for the key and ran for the chains holding Kakashi.

“Aang, I’ll get out on my own,” Kakashi called. “You won’t be able to get me out. Besides, you have to get out as fast as you can so that that crystal doesn’t eat up Katara and Sokka!”

“If you’re sure!” Aang turned and began his fight with the waterfall again. He tried everything- from climbing the ladder to using airbending to propel himself, but he couldn’t get to it. He grabbed the top of a spike in the ground and hurled it. Kakashi shook his head. There was no way that would- oh. The spike shot through the chain holding the key and lodged itself in the wall, hanging the key in front of the king’s face.

“There! Enjoy your lunch! Give me back my friends! Now!” Aang yelled. “That includes Kakashi!”

“Oh, but you haven’t completed all of my challenges yet,” the king said. “Come, now.”

“Kakashi’s all chained up!” Aang yelled. “At least let him go!”

“No, come with me, Aang.” The king smiled. “We’ll free him if you finish the challenges.”

“Fine.” Aang sent one last look back at Kakashi as he followed the king out.

Once Kakashi was alone again, he set to work on the chains. He tried firebending to heat the metal- metal is more malleable when it’s hot. He cried out as the hot metal burned his skin. But it didn’t budge. He groaned, wishing he was a skilled enough waterbender to use the waterfall. Or that he could bend metal. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to kick his legs hard enough to break the chain holding his feet together.

Kakashi sent chakra into his legs for one last attempt, kicking them and shattering the chain. It split in two, one half hitting the ground with a loud  _ clank _ and the other landing somewhere in the waterfall.

“Much better.” He smiled and pulled his legs up to his head, using his feet to free his hands. His wrists hurt as he kicked at the cuff, but the cuff gave way after a particularly well-placed kick. He flipped over, landing on his feet on top of one of the many spikes in the ground. He glanced at his wrists, which were glowing red. He walked over to the waterfall and stuck his arms in, sighing as the cool water hit his arms. He opened his eyes and saw the water  _ glowing. _ And his arms suddenly felt… perfect. No burns, nothing. He pulled his arms out of the water and jumped away. What kind of genjutsu was it?

“Release!” he muttered, forming a seal with his hands. His arms were still healed. Maybe it was the water. Maybe the water had healing capabilities. He hoped that that was it as he leapt up to the place that he had seen the king with Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

“Pakkun!” he hissed, suddenly remembering the small dog. “Maybe he left…” Kakashi figured he could give the dog a break. He focused on sensing Aang and following his signature.

***

“Kakashi!” Katara called, looking across the arena as Kakashi walked in. They were trying to figure out the king’s name, and they had gotten nowhere. All they had was Rocky- Sokka’s suggestion. Pakkun hadn’t been much help either- he had been sitting by Momo a few feet away the entire time.

“What’s going on?” Kakashi asked, rubbing at his arms and smiling when he saw the dog. 

“We have to figure out the king’s name,” Katara said. “We have no idea.”

“Wait…” Aang started pacing. “I had to think outside the box… I couldn’t use any regular methods, the king is insane… I got it!”

The group walked into the throne room, led by Aang. 

“You’re a mad genius, Bumi.” Aang ran up to the king and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s good to see you, Aang. You haven’t changed a bit.” Bumi grinned. “Literally.”

“Over here!” Katara called, bringing attention back to her predicament. The king shattered the crystal with earthbending before turning back to Aang. 

“Alright, you two can catch up later.” Kakashi leaned against a wall by the exit. “We have to get going. We’re still pretty far from the North Pole. All of this is wasting time we don’t have.”

“He’s right,” Sokka said. “It’s been fantastic, sir, but we really have to get going.”

“Aang.” Bumi stopped Aang before the group left. “You have to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you act like a mad genius.”

“Thanks, Bumi.” Aang gave him one last hug and the group turned to leave. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont like how this one turned out very much... but it's winter break for me!!!!! so the next one will be much better i promise

The next few days were a blur; the group travelled to a small village- Kakashi was still in denial that he had  _ purposefully  _ gotten captured alongside Katara and motivated a whole prison to rebel against the firebenders- and then to a strange place with a spirit kidnapping people. Kakashi quickly learned to stop using logic. Especially when Katara had the  _ genius  _ idea to steal a waterbending scroll from a band of pirates. Kakashi was hating the ‘no fatally wounding people’ rule that had been placed on him by his new teammates more every day.

“Aang and I are gonna go learn waterbending!” Katara said as they came to rest at a small oasis. Kakashi nodded and walked off, finding a hidden spot that he could watch and learn from. He watched as Katara and Aang bent the water- he could hear Aang saying something about really ‘feeling the movements and weight of the water.’ Kakashi grumbled as he shifted his weight through the movements, moving his arms around. Why couldn’t waterbending be as easy as earth or firebending?

“Kakashi!” Sokka called. “Where are you?” 

“Right here.” Kakashi let the water drop down and walked over to where Sokka’s voice was coming from.

“What were you doing?”

“Just… thinking.”

“About what?” Sokka asked, sitting down on a rock. Kakashi stiffened. He wasn’t expecting that question.

“Well, I’m from… a nonbender land, and I was chosen to find and train the Avatar in… our ways of combat. But Aang doesn’t seem like he wants to learn; he doesn’t want to learn to fight.” Kakashi figured he could let a bit of the truth slip into his words. The easiest lies to tell have bits of truth in them.

“Hm. Well, I think he’s a bit intimidated… he has to learn three elements in the next year, and I think he’s just a bit afraid that he won’t be able to do it. If I had the chance to learn to do… to do whatever you’re able to do, then I’d definitely want to learn!” Sokka grinned. 

“You could always train with me,” Kakashi said with a shrug. “If you can keep up with the workout, that is.”

“Of course I can keep up! I’m a warrior!”

“Mhm.” Kakashi nodded disbelievingly. 

***

“I wonder where Kakashi and Sokka went,” Aang said after Katara quit training in a huff. He didn’t quite get what she was so upset about, but he had never really understood girls at all, so he shrugged it off.

“You did this… every day?” Sokka groaned as he and Kakashi ran by.

“We aren’t halfway done yet!” Kakashi sped in front of Sokka.

“What?” Sokka collapsed on the ground, laying down in the dirt. Kakashi stopped and stood over him.

“We haven’t even gotten to the handstand pushups!” Kakashi crossed his arms.

“No… more…” Sokka panted. “Wait, handstand- pushups?”

“There they are, I guess,” Aang said to himself. “Hey! Sokka! Wanna see a waterbending move I learned?”

“Sure.” Sokka sat up and watched as Aang moved the water around.

“That’s nice.” Kakashi sat by Sokka, watching closely as Aang shifted through the movements. 

“How do you do that… every day?” Sokka asked.

“Important training,” Kakashi said. “That was just the physical exercise. I still haven’t done the meditation, chakra control practice, or sparring.”

“What’re those?” Aang asked. “I mean, I know about meditation, but what are the others?”

“Chakra control and jutsus are how we fight. We practice chakra control so that we can do things like walk on walls, enhance our strength, and perform jutsus. Sparring is just practice fighting, which you don’t do nearly enough of. Come here.”

“Okay.” Aang walked over to Kakashi and Kakashi got into a low stance.

“Fight me. I don’t care what kind of bending you use.”

“What if I hurt you?”

“You won’t. And if you do, then I’ll treat it and be fine by tonight.”

“Alright, then!” Aang spun around, attempting to gather up air to attack Kakashi. Kakashi let him get the first attack in- it wouldn’t be fair to get him this early. He was thrown back and Aang gasped. “Sorry!” 

“Don’t be.” Kakashi came back at him, kicking him across the face to throw him to the side. Aang called out and fell to the ground. “Hm. Your pain tolerance is low.”

“Hey! I wasn’t ready!”

“You have to be ready for anything at any given time.” Kakashi tossed a kunai to catch on his loose clothes, pinning him down. “Your clothes are also terrible for fighting. Your stance doesn’t allow for much movement  _ or  _ defense.”

“Are you always thinking about that?” Aang asked as he struggled and tried to get up.

“Of course.”

“You’re lying,” Sokka said. “You can’t always be thinking about all that, your brain might explode!”

“You have to constantly be at attention,” Kakashi said, pulling the kunai out of the ground and letting Aang stand. “Then, there are a few basic stances you have to learn.”

“I know some stances!” Aang said, beginning to shift through stances. “These are airbending stances.” 

“Mhm. But I can easily knock you off balance and you move too slow.” Kakashi swept a leg under him, throwing him to the ground. “I wear enough armor and have the weapons to protect me from lots of attacks, so I don’t need to think about it as much, but I have to be sure I’m moving quick enough to keep my enemy guessing.”

“Enemy?” Aang asked. “How often  _ do  _ you get into fights?”

“Right now,  _ student  _ might be a better word.” It was almost condescending, the way he said it. “I don’t think I could classify you as a proper opponent yet.”

“Hey!” Aang used waterbending to throw water at Kakashi, who dodged. Aang froze the water and sent five spikes flying. Kakashi didn’t dodge- he just used his kunai to parry each attack. 

“Don’t scare me like that!” Katara yelled, running over to them. “You could have gotten badly hurt!”

“Nah, he’ll be fine,” Sokka replied. 

Kakashi trained with Aang for the remainder of the day, leaving the latter exhausted. Sokka had found a good place they could stay and so they laid down to sleep, with Kakashi keeping watch. 

Once he was sure everyone was asleep, he used the Sharingan to memorize the information on the scroll and ran off to practice waterbending.

Katara hadn’t fallen asleep; she had plans to train. She had volunteered to keep watch, but Kakashi had insisted that he do it. She opened her eyes, sitting up and acting as though she had slept amazingly for the past hour and a half just in case anyone was awake to watch her. She looked around, finding the scroll sitting right where she had left it. She ran off to the river.

Kakashi closed his eyes and practiced the movements carefully. He had them right in his mind, and as he shifted through the stances, he could distantly hear the water moving. The movement was very slight- almost nonexistent- but it was definitely there. He opened his eyes and lifted as much water into a bubble as he could. 

_ Someone’s there. _ He whirled around as he heard footsteps. He could sense Katara walking towards him. He dropped the water and quickly sat down on a rock a few meters away, hoping that the excuse of ‘just thinking and watching the river’ or ‘lost on the path of life’ would work with Katara if she asked any questions. He wished he’d thought to leave a clone with the group.

“Oh, hey, Kakashi! I- uh, wasn’t… expecting to see you here!” She moved the scroll behind her back. Oh. That was why she was at the river.

“Hm. I thought I heard something coming from over here, so I moved my lookout over to here.” Kakashi hopped down from the rock. “Are you here to practice waterbending?”

“Uh-”

“Don’t lie, I see the scroll in your hands. I’m not judging you.” He shrugged. “I guess I’ll stay here … just in case something happens and I have to drag you out of the water. I left Pakkun there with the others, so if something happens, he’ll be able to tell me.”

“Okay.” Katara set the scroll up so that she could look at it. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” Kakashi watched as Katara made movements and bent the water. She pulled the water into a whip before making different shapes with it in the air. Kakashi figured it was a safe risk to use the Sharingan to watch her waterbend and to commit it to memory.

“Kakashi, look!” She turned to him, dropping the water. 

“Hm.” Kakashi was tempted to try, but he wasn’t about to reveal the fact that he could bend. He looked down the river to see two boats- they were by the shore, so it was possible that the people on it had gone on the shore, but it would be important to investigate and-

Kakashi’s thoughts were cut off by a sudden scream from Katara and strong arms wrapping around him. 

“Let- me- go!” Katara was struggling much louder than Kakashi, who was almost out of his captor’s grip.

“Hold him down! We need more people on Kakashi!” Zuko’s voice came from where Katara was standing.

“He’s just a kid!” one of the pirates protested.

“That’s what I thought at first, too!” Zuko called.

“Put my friends down  _ now!”  _ Aang ran over just as Kakashi’s vision was filled by three more of the people. He recognized them as the pirates from before.

“There he is!” Zuko said.

“Where’s the scroll?” one of the pirates asked.

“We won’t give it to you!” Katara yelled.

“Yes, you will!” Zuko pinned her arms behind her back and Katara cried out.

“Hey, let go of her!” Aang picked up his staff and sent a gust of air at Zuko, who was thrown back and forced to let go of Katara. 

“We just want the scroll!” the pirates yelled. Kakashi still couldn’t see anything because of the pirates surrounding them. 

“No, you idiots!” Zuko hissed. “The Avatar! Get the bald one!”

“Aang!” Kakashi yelled, dodging the hands that moved to his mouth to silence him. “Don’t worry about us! Run!”

“I won’t leave you!” That idiot. Aang began fighting, only to be caught by Zuko. “Let go of me! Hey, pirates! Don’t you think the Fire Nation will pay more for the Avatar than a little scroll?”

“Quiet!” Zuko called. Kakashi smiled. 

“Oh, he’s right!” the pirates yelled. Two of the ones holding Kakashi down let go and ran at Zuko and Aang, allowing Kakashi to twist out of the grip of the other two. Kakashi watched as pirates ran to Zuko, trying to pull Aang away. Zuko used firebending and made a giant cloud of smoke, grabbing Aang and pulling him away. Kakashi ran straight into the middle, trying to find Aang.

The scuffle lasted only ten minutes; Aang fought Zuko, who was fighting the pirates, who mostly just tried to catch Aang. Kakashi was thrown into multiple trees and tossed around like a ragdoll. At some point, the group managed to steal a ship and run away, finally able to relax.

“Where’s Pakkun?” Katara asked after a few minutes.

“He’ll catch up sooner or later.” Kakashi waved her worries away. 

The group sailed on until they came to a waterfall. The team had no way to stop the boat, so they agreed to jump. Kakashi leapt off first, bracing himself for impact. But the drop was much shorter than he expected; he landed on something familiar.

“Hey, be careful. You could have crushed me.” Pakkun was sitting on the saddle on Appa’s back.

“Hey, buddy!” Aang called. “Appa!” 

“I’m never doing that again,” Sokka said. “That was terrifying.”

“Mhm.” Kakashi patted Pakkun’s back and leaned back. 

The group travelled for hours, terrified that the firebenders would catch up to them. Aang was fidgety, Sokka was irritable, Katara was constantly going through their stuff over and over again, and Kakashi was Kakashi. 

“How am I going to learn three elements while the Fire Nation is after all of our lives?” Aang groaned.

“You’re the Avatar,” Kakashi said, “you’ll find a way.” Guilt burned in his stomach; he should be learning with Aang. He should be helping Aang. He should be teaching him more than just harnessing his chakra. “If you let me teach you to harness your chakra, you’ll be able to beat him, no problem.” That was the wrong thing to say, and Kakashi knew it.

“Hm.” Aang pulled his knees to your chest.

“Hey, there’s a forest!” Sokka said. “We should walk on the ground instead of flying- we’re less likely to be noticed.”

“He’s right,” Kakashi said. “Let’s head on down. We can stay down there for a few days. At least until we lose the Fire Nation’s trail.”

“Alright,” Aang said. 

“Yeah,” Katara said. “Maybe we can find a village or something to stay at for a while.”

“We can’t draw that much attention to ourselves,” Kakashi said. “We’ll stay in the woods. Remember what happened on Kyoshi Island?”

“Fine,” Aang sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope y'all are excited to see jet in the next chapter  
> oh and im gonna use this as an opportunity to give y'all my tumblr  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/leshitposts  
> :))


	13. Chapter 13

A group of Fire Nation soldiers approached the group, attacking Kakashi first and before he had the chance to dodge or attack back. He swore softly. Zuko must’ve told them about him. He could barely see as everyone else fought. A hand pressed into the back of his neck and he was going down, down… the world faded to black as he hit the ground. 

“Kakashi’s passed out!” Katara yelled. They couldn’t hold their own for much longer; they’d have to run, to hide, to fly away,  _ something.  _ She used waterbending to freeze one man’s feet to the ground, but it was no use. He used firebending to melt the ice and attack again.

“Need some help?” A call came from the woods. Katara spun around and saw a bunch of boys running towards them. She guessed that the youngest was around eight or nine years old, with the oldest being around sixteen. Her eyes fell on the oldest- tall, with dark hair and eyes… 

“Thank you!” Katara smiled and ran up to him.

“No problem. We all love beating up on the Fire Nation men. Hey! Smellerbee! Go through their stuff! See if you can get anything interesting. Alright, then. What’s your name?”

“Katara. And that’s Sokka, that’s Aang, and that’s Kakashi.” She pointed to each of her friends as she said their names. “And that’s Kakashi’s dog, Pakkun.”

“I’m Jet, and we’re all the Freedom Fighters. Glad we could get over here in time.” Jet nodded towards Kakashi and began walking towards him. “Hey, what happened to him? He’s on your side, right? Maybe we should take off his mask- he’ll be able to breathe easier.”

“No!” Katara took his arm and pulled him away from Kakashi as he reached toward him. “He… isn’t exactly okay with people touching him. Aang almost got stabbed the other day when he tried to hug him.”

“Aw, man. You think he hates touch that much?” Jet smirked. “Poor kid. Hey, you all should join us tonight! It’ll be a feast, a celebration since we destroyed another camp today.”

“I’d be honored.” Katara smiled.

“Hey, Jet!” one of the kids called. “We got blasting jelly!”

“Awesome! Be careful with it; we don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“Alright!”

“Is Kakashi okay?” Sokka ran over to where Katara was kneeling.

“Please say he’s alright!” Aang sat by them. Pakkun nuzzled his face against Kakashi in an attempt to wake him.

“He was crowded by three guys at once,” Sokka said. “He’s probably hurt pretty badly.”

“Hm. We might have something back at the base that can help him. I can carry him.” Jet looked at Katara, who opened her mouth to argue. “What? He can’t stab me if he’s not awake or in shape to move.”

“But that doesn’t mean you should pick him up!” Aang said. “Kakashi, wake up!!” he yelled. Kakashi sat up, immediately pulling out a kunai knife. “See? That was much easier than carrying him!”

“Hey, that’s sharp,” Jet said, gesturing to the knife. “Are you sure a kid as young as you should have one of those?”

“I’ve been training with kunai for more than five years,” Kakashi said, his voice quiet. “I’m not a little kid.”

“Hm. Well, I was just talking to Katara about you four joining us for a dinner at our base. We’d be honored to have the Avatar and his team at our table.”

“Who even are you?” Kakashi asked, standing up.

“We’re the Freedom Fighters. Now, you coming?”

“Fine.” Kakashi slowly put his kunai away and Jet turned around to lead them off. 

***

Kakashi sat between Sokka and Aang, watching Jet. He was certainly… annoying. Katara was sitting quite close to him, practically leaning on him as she intently clung onto his every word. Sokka was glaring at Jet, who led a loud cheer to the Avatar and to destroying another Fire Nation camp. It made Kakashi nervous to be so loud; his senses were screaming at him that it was dangerous and that they were alerting the entire forest to their presence, but no one else seemed bothered.

“So you’re not from around here, huh?” Jet asked Katara.

“No.” She fidgeted with a piece of hair. “Sokka and I are from the Southern Water Tribe. And Aang is an Air Nomad.”

“And Kakashi?”

“I’m from Konohagakure,” Kakashi muttered. 

“Kono-huh?” Smellerbee asked.

“The Village Hidden in the Leaves,” Kakashi translated. 

“Is that where the legendary Sakumo Hatake is from?” Jet asked. “I’ve heard many legends about him.”

“Mhm.” Kakashi nodded.

“Aw, man!” Smellerbee said. “That’s so cool! Imagine if you got to meet him! Or even just a friend of his!”

“I did,” Kakashi said. 

“You know, lots of the legends paint him out to be a crazed murderer, but I think he was probably a cool guy,” Jet said. “Did you get to talk to him?”

“Yep.” Kakashi nodded.

“Jeez,” Sokka said. “What is it with everyone and their obsession with your dad? And why did Jet say ‘crazed murderer?’”

“He was your dad?” Jet asked. A silence fell over the forest, only broken by a crackling fire and animals rustling in the trees.

“I’m gonna take a walk.” Kakashi stood. “The food was nice.”

“You didn’t take a single bite!” Aang protested. But Kakashi was already gone.

“His life at home is a bit of a touchy subject,” Katara said. “He lost his best friend recently and I’m pretty sure he’s lost more than he lets on.”

“Yeah,” Aang said. “When the two of us went there, his teacher told me that he’s been through a lot. I’m gonna go find him.”

“He just needs some time alone,” Sokka said, taking Aang’s arm.

“No, I’m gonna find him before he gets hurt. I’ll be back later.” Aang grabbed his glider and began flying away.

“Well, I guess I’ll show you two to where you’ll be sleeping?” Jet put his hand out for Katara to take.

***

Kakashi sat in a tree, watching the stars and cursing himself. He’d gotten emotional again. He didn’t know what was wrong with him; even when Obito had antagonized him nearly to the point of yelling, he’d never been so close to crying in front of so many others. His father had been painted as a terrible man in this dimension, as well as back at home. He sighed as tears made the stars blur in his vision.

“Kakashi?” he heard Aang’s voice and watched him fly through the trees. He didn’t want to be discovered just yet; he hadn’t gotten proper time alone in weeks, and he just needed to get away from the others. “Kakashi, we’re all worried about you! At least tell me where you are!”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, trying to keep his voice level.

“Did something… happen to him? To your dad?” Aang’s voice was soft.

“No.” Kakashi crossed his arms. He knew Aang couldn’t see him, but he hid his face in his knees.

***

“Thank goodness I can talk to you alone,” Katara said softly. “Sokka, I have a sinking suspicion. It’s about Kakashi.”

“What is it?” Sokka asked. “We already know that he can kill people and that he’s from, like, a weird dimension we’ve only heard about in legends, but what else could possibly be-”

“Don’t think I’m crazy,” Katara said, moving closer to her brother, “but I think he’s a waterbender.”

“What? You know he’s a nonbender like me!” Sokka said. “And he looks  _ nothing  _ like us! He clearly doesn’t come from a waterbending tribe, and-”

“Listen. Remember when the pirates and firebenders attacked us?”

“Yeah.”

“That night, he  _ insisted  _ that he kept watch. And when I got up to go practice waterbending, he wasn’t there. He was at the river. You know how close he always stays when he keeps watch!” Katara paused. “And when I got there, he was sitting on a rock and his hair and shoes were wet.  _ And, _ when I was bending, I could feel him watching really closely, almost like he wanted to learn to do the same!”

“That… is kinda weird,” Sokka admitted. “We can ask when he gets back.”

“That wouldn’t be fair,” Katara said. “You saw how upset he was when he left. We can’t just bombard him with questions as soon as he gets back.”

“We’ll have to mention it at breakfast tomorrow,” Sokka said. “So that it still catches him off guard but it’s not too mean. I don’t want to hurt his feelings either, but we can’t have him lying to us.”

“I guess.” Katara pulled out her sleeping bag. “It’s getting dark. Aang’s gonna find Kakashi and get back, then we can talk to him in the morning.”

“Good plan.” 

***

Kakashi walked by Aang. It was dark, and he had finally given in and revealed his location.

“Seriously, why do you keep running from us?” Aang asked. “I mean, if you need alone time, you can just ask us to leave you alone.”

“Yeah, pup.” Pakkun nuzzled against Kakashi’s leg. “You were never like this back at home.”

“Hm.” Kakashi crossed his arms. “No one at home ever brought up my dad. His… he was kind of… taboo.”

“Taboo?” Aang asked, hoping for elaboration.

“Yeah. Let’s just get back. Sokka and Katara are probably worried.”

“Okay!” Aang followed Kakashi back to the base.

***

“So, Kakashi,” Sokka said at breakfast the next morning. “What do you know about waterbending?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason.” Sokka shrugged. “A little birdie told me that you might know more than you’re letting on.”

“Hm.” Kakashi leaned forward to eat as Jet slipped into the seat by him.

“Alright, so I have a big plan for today. Aang and Katara, I’ll need you two for your waterbending.” Jet began calling orders. 

“What is it?” Katara asked.

“You’ll see. I think you’ll like it.” Jet smiled. “Sokka! Kakashi! You two can go with Longshot and Smellerbee. They’ve got another important job for you.”

“Alright!” Sokka smiled. “An important job. For us.”

***

“So, what are we doing?” Sokka asked.

“Just going on a long walk to survey the area,” Smellerbee said.

“Kakashi!” Pakkun ran up to the group, out of breath.

“Yeah?” Kakashi lifted the tiny dog, who was panting. Kakashi almost felt bad for him; dogs his size aren’t meant to run very much.

“They’re gonna explode the dam!” Pakkun put his front paws on Kakashi’s shoulder to make eye contact with him. “And there’s a village there that would be destroyed!”

“Is this true?” Kakashi asked Smellerbee, pulling out a kunai to threaten her.

“It’s for the greater good!”

“We have to tell Aang and Katara!” Sokka said.

“Too late.” Jet walked up to the group. “The dam is set to burst in an hour. You can’t stop us.”

“Damn!” Kakashi yelled. “Pakkun, we have to warn the village! Sokka, you tell Katara and Aang!”

“No!” Jet laughed. “We won’t let you get to- hey!”

“You’re- worse- than- shinobi- for- this!” Pakkun said, clamping his teeth onto Jet’s arm.

“Nice, Pakkun!” Kakashi yelled, taking Sokka by the arm and running away. Longshot began shooting at them, but Kakashi cut each arrow with his kunai before they got the chance to get to them.

“I’ll get Aang!” Sokka said once they were away from the Freedom Fighters. Kakashi nodded and ran to the village in the valley.

“The dam’s going to explode!” Kakashi yelled, using chakra to magnify his voice. “Everyone has to evacuate! You have less than an hour until the water destroys everything!” He started knocking on doors. 

Sokka eventually joined him in getting people out.

“Shit.” The word escaped Kakashi’s mouth as a loud  _ bang _ erupted from the dam.

“Run!” Sokka screamed. Kakashi worked on pushing people out of the way; he could die here. That’d be alright. As long as he could save these people. “Kakashi, what’re you-”

Kakashi felt his eyes heat up and his arms raised on their own accord, as though someone else was controlling him. The water stopped and seemed to form a wall as it froze.

“Kakashi…” Sokka watched as Kakashi’s arms whirled around and the water was sent back, rushing into the forest. The giant ice wall collapsed, and Kakashi melted and moved the water to have it seep into the dirt. “Kakashi!” He rushed over just as Kakashi fell to his knees, putting his hands on the ground and breathing hard. 

***

“Now  _ THAT's what _ I call waterbending!” Aang said. “Who did that?”

“I don’t know,” Katara said in awe. Aang grabbed his glider. 

“Alright, Katara. Hold on tight. We’ll go check it out.”

***

“What the heck just happened?” Sokka pulled Kakashi up to lean on him. “Are you a waterbender? That was definitely waterbending.”

“You saved us!” one woman from the village said, running up to the pair. A crowd of villagers slowly approached them, crowding around and asking questions.

“Stand back!” Sokka said, waving his arm around as discomfort spread over Kakashi’s face. “He needs space.”

“Hey!” Aang called, gliding down with Katara. “What happened to Kakashi? Was he the waterbender? Or-”

“Where’s Jet?” Sokka asked. “Is he going to-”

“I think we’ll be safe from him and his so-called ‘Freedom Fighters,’” Katara said. “Now tell us what happened.”

“Well, one second, water was rushing toward us, and the next, there was a giant ice wall protecting us and Kakashi had his hands up to control it,” Sokka said. “It was pretty cool, but I think he’s a bit tired out after all that bending.”

“Kakashi, why didn’t you tell us you’re a waterbender?” Katara asked.

“I didn’t know until just then.” Kakashi winced at how easy it would be to see through his lie, but at least Aang seemed to somewhat buy it.

“How didn’t you know?” Aang asked. “Wasn’t there someone in your village who could see if you’re a bender? To test you?”

“Bending is forbidden where I’m from.” It wasn’t a total lie. Most people just didn’t know it was a thing.

“Forbidden?” A villager asked. “Like, no bending at all? For anyone?”

Kakashi nodded. “Nobody bends. We have our own way of fighting and doing things.”

“You’re a shinobi,” an old villager realized suddenly. 

“Alright, I think it’s about time we go.” Sokka helped Kakashi up, carrying him on his back, despite Kakashi’s halfhearted protests. 

“How can we repay you for saving all of us?” a man asked.

“It’s a day in the life of the Avatar,” Sokka said, leading the group away from the village. “Don’t worry about it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kakashi=elsa confirmed.  
> im super super excited for yall to see next week's chapter. i think youll like it :))  
> (feel free to tell me anything you really wanna see; im rewatching avatar to get more of a feel for the universe so i don't wanna miss anything i should be adding.)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this one is a bit longer but i hope yall like it!!! happy new year!!!!!

“Why didn’t you tell us you could waterbend?” Katara asked as Appa took flight. 

“Didn’t know.” Kakashi could tell that Katara was trying her best to keep her tone and facial expressions neutral, but she was still obviously angry. He tried his best to defuse the situation with his answers, even if they were lies.

“How did you… not know? How could you do that without any waterbending training? You froze a giant ice wall and saved a village from collapse!” Katara was flailing her arms around, and if Kakashi didn’t know her better, he might worry that she’d fall off of Appa’s back. 

“I don’t know what happened!” Kakashi insisted. He was determined to get them to believe his lies. “My… I lost control and it just happened!”

“You lost control?” Aang asked. “That… that sounds kind of like the Avatar State that Monk Gyatso told me about. Does something like that happen with chakra? When you get really emotional and lose control?”

“Well…” Kakashi figured he had to give a real answer. “Technically, no, but it’s complicated. The average shinobi only loses control when in great emotional distress- when Obito died, I…” he took a shaky breath before changing the subject. “One of the major rules of being a shinobi is showing no emotion, but sometimes it’s impossible.”

“But emotions are what make us human!” Aang said. 

“That’s exactly the problem.”

***

“Hello, Zuko.” General Zhao met Zuko and Iroh just off their boat.

“Hello.” Zuko glared at him, but didn’t dare step out of line.

“I found something interesting on your boat.”

“Oh?” Zuko gritted his teeth. What could he have found? Weapons? An artifact? Zuko shuddered. Iroh had lots of things on that boat that Zuko hoped to never have to explain.

“Something Iroh wrote.” Zhao tossed a scroll of paper to Zuko. Zuko opened it and read it. It had observations of Kakashi, including a rough sketch, including the strange Sharingan eye.

“Uncle, you wrote this all down?” Zuko showed him the scroll. 

“Yes, Zuko. The only reason I allowed him on our ship was because he was a shinobi. I was hoping to bring him back here. Capturing a ninja would be just as important as bringing home the Avatar. Besides, he was also searching for the Avatar. Shinobi are known for their expert tracking skills, you know.”

“What happened? How did he get away?” Zhao asked. “Your paper doesn’t say.”

“He ran away in the middle of the night,” Iroh said. 

“Mhm.” Zhao looked at the paper. “Kakashi  _ Hatake _ . White hair. Heavy, dark eyes. Incredible intelligence. Firebending. Do you know what this means?”

“No,” Zuko said.

“Yes,” Iroh said. “I’m afraid I do.”

“He’s related to the legendary Sakumo Hatake!  _ And _ he somehow got ahold of a Sharingan eye! How could you let him go?”

“I didn’t  _ let _ him go!” Zuko yelled. “Uncle Iroh never told me how important he was!”

“I’m sorry, Zuko. I couldn’t tell you-”

“I think I deserve to know-”

“Silence!” Zhao commanded. “You two will go back and find them  _ both. _ Your scroll says that they are travelling together, yes?” Iroh nodded. “So you should be able to capture both of them together, yes?”

“Yes, sir,” Zuko grumbled.

***

After weeks of travelling, Kakashi, Aang, Sokka, and Katara came to a clearing in the woods. An old man cried out as a bear attacked him, but he stood and let it happen. Kakashi ran to slash the bear with a kunai knife, saving the man.

“Why weren’t you running?” Kakashi asked. “Or fighting back?”

“Aunt Wu predicted that I would have a safe walk through the forest. And I did.”

“You were attacked!” Sokka yelled.

“Yes, but this nice boy saved me.”

“I should’ve left you to die,” Kakashi grumbled. 

“You should all see Aunt Wu!” the man said. “She can predict your futures! The village is about a half mile that way.” He pointed and smiled at them. 

“Predicting the future?” Kakashi asked once the group had started walking. “Sounds like a load of-”

“Don’t say it,” Katara sighed.

“Sounds like a load of shit.”

“What’ll it take to get you to stop swearing?” Katara groaned. “You’re ten years old!”’

“I’m practically considered an adult in my village,” he huffed.

“Yeah, yeah. Your village is weird, though.” Sokka put his hands behind his head. “Just like fortune-telling. I don’t believe that anyone can really tell the future.” 

“Well, we should still go and see. It could be fun!” Aang said. “Besides, we’ll get to go to a village and maybe get a few days to relax.”

***

“Uncle, tell me something.” Zuko sat across from Iroh over a cup of tea. “What’s with my father and shinobi? Is he afraid of them or something?”

“Zuko, I should tell you the ancient legends, shouldn’t I?” Iroh shifted to get more comfortable. Zuko sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for one of Iroh’s long stories, but it didn’t look like he had the choice. “There are two dimensions. Ours is ruled by the spirit of peace and light- known as Raava, with the help of the Avatar- and the other is ruled by the spirit of darkness and chaos; Vaatu, with the help of a being called Zetsu. Time in that land passes ten times slower than ours. Ten thousand years ago, though, those two lands were one.” Iroh paused. “The one land was split by a god known as Kaguya, who gave thousands of nonbenders a power called chakra. The people in that land grew to be known as shinobi. They kill ruthlessly and have powers that we could never even imagine.”

“Like what? And what’s Zetsu?” 

“So many powers. They can move at incredible speeds and do almost anything, Zuko. And Zetsu is a creation by Kaguya; a manifestation of her will.”

“Is all this true?” Zuko asked. He hated to admit it, but he was interested.

“We have no way of knowing how true these are. But Zetsu helps to keep their world in constant chaos and war.” Iroh took a deep breath. “Some people believe that there are benders there that somehow managed to get across the border between lands. The Uchiha are the most famous example; firebenders with amazing powers held in their eyes. That’s why I was so startled by Kakashi’s Sharingan. Team Ino-Shika-Cho-Sa was made of the Yamanaka family, the Nara family, the Akimichi family, and, formerly, the Hatake clan. The Yamanakas were waterbenders, the Naras were airbenders, the Akimichis were earthbenders, and the Hatake clan were firebenders. They were known for their perfect teamwork and powerful formations.”

“That’s… crazy,” Zuko said. “So the other dimension is… real? And what happened to the Hatake family? Why aren’t they part of the team anymore?”

“Nobody really knows. All we know is that the Hatake family isn’t a part of the team anymore and that the clan has shrunk to only a few people.”

“So you really believe that a god came down to Earth and gave people powers?” Zuko asked. “And split two lands into separate dimensions?”

“Yes, Zuko. Sometimes the strangest possibilities are the truth.”

***

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Kakashi sat in a strange room, waiting for their fortunes to be told. Aang went first, and Kakashi leaned back and just let himself think. He thought about how he would never want anything to happen to Aang, Katara, or Sokka. He thought about what Minato-sensei would think. He’d probably be proud of Kakashi for making… friends. Friends. He smiled to himself. That’s what they all were.

“Alright, you’re last.” Aunt Wu called Kakashi in. “Your name?” she asked as the pair sat in a dim room with strange artifacts everywhere.

“Kakashi.”

“Gloves off?” The woman took Kakashi’s right hand. Kakashi nodded and pulled his protective glove off of his hand. Aunt Wu took his hand and traced the lines on his palm. She frowned and stared at his hand. Her concentrating frown turned into a sad look.

“What is it?”

Katara sat by the door, listening into their conversation. It was nosy, she knew, but she was curious as to what Kakashi’s future could be.

“I see much darkness in your future.” Aunt Wu paused. “Much death… much pain…” She flipped his hand over and examined it, seeming to be trying to feel his energy. “I can sense that you will lose a great teacher and close friends, but will still be successful, even after all the hardships. And you will fall in love one day… a great rivalry will lead into deep and eternal love; you have already met your soulmate and need to learn to appreciate them. And the number eight may bring their demise.”

“Thanks,” Kakashi muttered. 

“But there’s more.”

“I don’t think I want to hear it.” 

“I understand.” Aunt Wu nodded and followed Kakashi out to meet back with everyone else. Katara quickly ran back to Sokka and Aang, pretending she had been there the entire time.

***

Kakashi thought about his prediction as he watched Sokka give Aang flirting advice. He hated how believable Aunt Wu’s words were. Who could possibly be his ‘soulmate?’ She had mentioned rivalry, which threw him off. Could she mean Gai? The boy that had called Kakashi his ‘eternal rival?’ The one his dad had said would be a great rival? He groaned inwardly. There was no way  _ that  _ guy could be his soulmate. Maybe she meant someone he’d only seen in passing; someone he’d spoken with in a village he’d only ever had one mission in… maybe someone from the Chunin Exams. It seemed unlikely. He settled with the idea that it was probably Gai. He didn’t like it, but it made sense.

And the number eight… Aunt Wu could have been referring to the eighth gate, which Kakashi had only heard about in old stories. He’d lived in fear of it, hoping that he would never have to see it in action- or use it. 

Losing close friends and a great teacher. That part hit him hard. ‘Close friends’ could be Aang, Katara, and Sokka; but that could also be Rin and Gai. And a great teacher. He hoped that didn’t mean Minato-sensei. Kakashi sometimes acted like he hated him, but if anything happened to Minato-sensei, he would lose it.

“Kakashi, what’re you thinking about? You look sad.” Sokka sat by him. 

“Hm? Oh, just what Aunt Wu said.”

“You really believe that?” Sokka scoffed. 

“No,” Kakashi sighed, “but what she said… some of it makes a lot of sense.”

“What’d she tell you?” Sokka’s expression went from teasing to concerned in an instant.

“She said I’d be successful but lose a lot in the process,” Kakashi said, shrugging.

“Is that all?” Sokka moved closer. 

“Yep.”

“No, it’s not,” Katara said, walking up to them with Aang in tow. “She said that you’d fall in love.” She grinned, grabbing Kakashi’s arm and swooning. “Deep and eternal love born from a beautiful rivalry… I’m jealous!”

“Hm. I don’t want love.” Kakashi stood and walked away. “It sounds like a waste of time.”

“How can you say that?” Aang asked. “Love is an important part of life! Monk Gyatso always said-”

“Maybe it is,” Kakashi said. “But she said that I already know the person I’m going to fall in love with. And if she’s right and I’m thinking of the right person, then I don’t want it.”

“Well, tell us about her! We wanna know who you could be falling in love with!” Katara said with a smile. “And why don’t you want her?”

“She?” Kakashi wrinkled his nose. He suddenly remembered that most people likely thought he’d end up falling in love with a  _ girl. _ Disgusting.

“He?” Aang asked. “Tell us about  _ him, _ then!”

“No.” Kakashi crossed his arms.

“Please?” Sokka begged.

“Yeah, Kakashi! Please tell us about him!” Katara grinned. “We won’t laugh, I promise.”

“Fine,” Kakashi sighed. “He’s the stupidest person in the entire village. He pretty much only works with taijutsu, so he really isn’t much of a shinobi- though he works hard enough that he might be pretty strong one day. He has more energy than a hundred suns put together. He’s on a team that’s not noteworthy, except for maybe his teacher.” He paused, not sure if he wanted to tell the last part. “When we were five, he declared us eternal rivals and he refuses to leave my side.”

“That’s so sweet!” Katara cooed.

“It’s pretty annoying,” Kakashi grumbled. His face was heating up, and he looked away from the others. “He always wants to do dumb challenges.”

“Stop complaining,” Sokka said. “He sounds nice!”

“Yeah!” Aang said. “Maybe one day I’ll be able to meet him!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kakashi felt his face heat up from the attention. “What did Aunt Wu tell each of you?”

“Well, you heard what she said to me,” Sokka grumbled.

“She told me that I’d end up with a powerful bender!” Katara swooned.

“She told me that I’ll have to master the four elements…” Aang paused. “I didn’t get anything about my love life, but Katara did and I think that’s enough for me.” He grinned and elbowed Katara, looking up at her.

“Smooth, Aang!” Sokka said with a grin, high-fiving Aang.

***

Zuko laid awake late into the hours of the night; he couldn’t wrap his mind around the legends. 

“Zuko, you shouldn’t be up this late. Put out the candles,” Iroh said, walking into his room. “You’re still growing. You need your sleep and-”

“I can’t believe the Avatar is travelling with the relative of a literal legend!” Zuko said, standing up. The candles around the room raged, the flames coming dangerously close to the ceiling. “I never really believed that Sakumo Hatake was real but now… now we have proof! And we let our only proof escape!”

“Zuko, you know we couldn’t have-”

“I don’t care! He still escaped our grasp! We could have  _ used him!” _

“Zuko, he’s a child!” Iroh scolded. “We do not  _ use  _ children! That would make us just as bad as the shinobi!”

“I don’t care, Uncle!” The candles rose even higher, heating the entire room in seconds.

“Zuko, come sit outside.” Iroh turned and left, trusting his nephew to follow.

“Fine,” Zuko grumbled, following Iroh to the deck of the ship. 

“Do you understand what shinobi are, Zuko?”

“People with powers that we’ve never seen, you already said-”

“No, Zuko. Do you understand their jobs? Their lives?”

“No.”

“People-  _ children- _ are being trained to be weapons. The job of a shinobi is to carry out missions without question, emotion, or any failure.” Iroh paused, letting it sink in. “Missions range from saving lost cats to taking out entire armies. They’re nothing like anyone we’ve ever seen. Even just Kakashi has skills I could never dream of.”

***

“The volcano is going to erupt soon,” Kakashi said, grabbing Aang by the arm.

“What?”

“I can sense it. We have to evacuate!” Kakashi pulled Aang by the arm. “I don’t care what Aunt Wu said, the volcano is going to destroy the village!”

“You can sense the volcano erupting?” Sokka asked. Kakashi nodded. 

“The heat’s rising and bubbling up, I can feel it. And there’s smoke coming out of the top.”

“The volcano’s going to explode!” Sokka yelled, pointing at the smoke.

“You’re kidding,” Katara said sarcastically. 

“We’ll dig trenches!” Sokka said. “It’ll stop the lava from getting everywhere and destroying the entire village!”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” an old man said, smiling. “We’ll be just fine, like Aunt Wu said.”

“You idiot!” Sokka screeched. “Look at the smoke coming out! We have to evacuate the elderly and the kids, then get everyone who can to help us dig trenches!”

“Let me start it!” Kakashi yelled. He figured he could easily go into the Avatar State and earthbend the ground- and maybe even the lava- to dig trenches, but he wasn’t about to reveal himself. Not when he had so many alternative options. He began forming the Chidori in his hand and called for everyone to move out of the way as he struck the ground, groaning as his hand hit the dirt and sunk into it. A system of cracks in the ground moved away from where he hit.

“Woah,” Aang said.

“Well, help me!” Kakashi picked up a shovel with one arm- his dominant hand had been rendered practically useless by the impact, but he could still dig.

“Y- yeah!” Aang grabbed a shovel and began digging beside Kakashi. A bunch of people from the village followed suit, picking up shovels and deepening the trenches.

“Run!” Sokka screamed as the volcano finally erupted, heating the air and spewing lava and smoke everywhere. “Go, go, go!”

Kakashi ran away from the lava, looking back every few seconds. His heart nearly stopped as he saw Aang stop. Aang’s eyes and tattoos glowed white and he put his arms up. Aang would die if Kakashi didn’t do anything.

“Kakashi, run! Aang knows what he’s doing!” Katara cried, grabbing his limp arm. She didn’t sound too sure of herself. But Kakashi couldn’t pull away.

“I’m not going to let him die!” Kakashi said. “I’m going to-”

“No, you’re not!” Sokka said, grabbing Kakashi’s other arm and dragging him away. Kakashi watched as Aang used airbending to push the lava back. He fell to his knees. Aang wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t go out so easily, right? Right?

A cheer went out all around the village as the lava spilled into the trenches, staying far away from the houses. Aang fell to the ground, breathing hard as he limped back to the village.

“We’re safe!” one man cried. “Aunt Wu was right!”

“The volcano still erupted!” Sokka shot back.

“Yes, but we’re safe!” he smiled at Sokka. 

“Aang, are you okay?” Katara asked, helping Aang over.

“Did I do it?” Aang’s voice was hoarse and he started coughing out smoke.

“Yeah,” Kakashi said softly. 

“Yep!” Katara hugged him, holding him close. “Oh, and Kakashi?”

“Hm?”

“We should do something about that arm.”

“I’ve got bandages. I’ll just wrap it up until it heals.” Kakashi walked over to Appa and jumped up onto his back. “Well? You three coming?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu


End file.
